A petal-rimmed rhinoceros horn libation cup,. Late Ming-early Qing dynasty,  17th century. Photo Sotheby's

of flared hexafoil form, the interior and exterior carved as petals rising to the everted rim, the body encircled by an elegant band of lotus scroll, the handle at one end formed by a large undercut chilong grasping the rim with its mouth surrounded by three smaller chilong, all supported on a flared conforming foot, the horn darkening from a honey color to a dark brown towards the base of the cup. Length 5 3/4 in., 14.6 cm. Estimate 120,000-180,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's New York, 20th January, 1977, lot 141.

NOTE: Rhinoceros horn cups of this elegant flared hexafoil form are seldom seen, although a closely related vessel, from the collection of Gerard Levy, Paris, is illustrated in Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carvings in China, London, 1999, pl. 173; and another finely carved with similar flaring petal rim, also decorated with a central band of scrolling lotus and the handle in the form of a climbing chilong, was sold in these rooms, 19th March 2007, lot 369.

Compare two further examples in the collection of Thomas Fok, carved with intertwining dragons forming the handles and low-relief bands of lotus flowers and other archaistic motifs, included in Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pls. 9 and 25. Related lotus scroll motif encircles the body of a ewer, formerly in the collection of Dr. Ip Yee, illustrated in Chapman, op.cit., pls. 89-90.

 Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. New York | 20 Mar 2012 www..sothebys.com