Lot 3012. A carved rhinoceros horn 'Cranes, Pine and Bamboo' libation cup, Qing dynasty, 17th-18th century; 11 cm., 4 3/8 in. Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 HKD. Lot sold 812,500 HKD. Photo Sotheby's

deftly carved in low relief on the exterior with a pair of confronting cranes, one standing, the other perched on a gnarled pine tree, the reverse with a third crane combing its feathers with its beak, all amongst lingzhi, leafy bamboo and pine trees in a continuous craggy landscape, the horn of a warm honey brown tone.

Provenance: Sotheby's Amsterdam, 22nd October 1996, lot 448.

Exhibited: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth - Gems of Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 2003-2005, no. 115.

Note: This elegant libation cup is full of auspicious symbolism. Cranes are generally associated with Shoulao, the God of Immortality who is often depicted riding on the back of a crane, the evergreen pine tree symbolises longevity, as it is known to live for a long time, and the lingzhi fungus represents the wish for eternal life.

Compare two cups decorated with cranes sold in these rooms, the first sold, 8th April 2011, lot 2722, from the collection of Edward T. Chow and Franklin Chow and published in Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 144, and the second, 13th May 1988, lot 491. See also a cup carved with various birds from the collection of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, illustrated in Jan Chapman, The Art of the Rhinoceros Horn Carving of China, London, 1999, pl. 253; and another sold at Christie’s New York , 22nd March 2012, lot 1690.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 april 2014