Lot 660. A carved rhinoceros horn 'Lotus Pond' libation cup, Qing Dynasty, 17th-18th century; 16 cm., 6 1/4 in. Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,240,000 HKD (159,935 USD). Photo Sotheby's

naturalistically carved as a cup-shaped lotus leaf with furled edges, the exterior detailed with dichotomous venation and two dragonflies, the base carved in openwork with entangled stems studded with bosses issuing a large leaf and lotus bloom, two stems and long leaves extending upwards and forming the handle on one side of the cup, the sides further picked out with a praying mantis perched on a leaf and two beetles and a crab on the interior, the horn of a reddish-brown colour

Note: The present cup is notable for its exquisitely carved lotus leaf form which has been fashioned with deep veins on the exterior of the vessel. While this cup displays a number of characteristic elements seen on vessels of lotus form, one of the most popular decorative themes in the rhinoceros horn carver’s repertoire, it is notable not only for the inclusion of living creatures but also for the elegant and skilfully modelling of the entwined stalks that extend upward to form the foot and handle. A similarly formed cup carved with a large crab on the interior, from the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, is illustrated in Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 90, together with a cup of this form, but without insects, pl. 85; another, from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, is published in Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, pl. 207; Compare also a cup carved with a similar handle as the present, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th May 2008, lot 1703.

Sotheby's. Playthings From The Collection of Edward T. Chow Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Collections Chinese Art Through the Eye of Sakamoto Gor - Asian Lacquer, Hong Kong, 27 may 2014