Lot 294. An extremely rare archaistic 'lotus and boys' rhinoceros horn libation cup, 17th-18th century. Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 (€78,000 - 100,000). Unsold. Photo: Bonhams.

The lower section skilfully carved as an archaistic bronze wine gu vessel rising from a splayed base decorated with pendent plantain leaves beneath a band of taotie masks around the raised mid-section and upright triangular blades enclosing stylised cicadas, accented by notched flanges and flanked to each side by a figure of a boy, one crouching, the other holding a lotus stem, the upper section carved in high relief in the form of a splayed, furled lotus leaf emerging from the archaistic base, naturalistically detailed with veins and enveloped around the exterior with four large lotus blooms entwined with large leaves forming the handle and extending to the interior, the horn of a rich amber colour darkening towards the base. 20cm (7 3/4in) high 

Notes: This outstanding cup encapsulates an array of highly symbolic associations. The lotus, an emblem of fertility because of the multitude of its petals and seeds, combined with children, reinforces the wish for male progeny. This auspicious connotation was known in China since at least the Tang dynasty, when children and lotus appeared on images purchased by women desiring sons on the day of the Double Seventh Festival that celebrated the love encounter between the Weaving Maid and the Cowherd. Children emerging from lotus calyxes also symbolised the heavenly rebirth in a Buddhist realm, according to scriptures dating from the fourth century AD, but also the mindless state of spontaneous actions advocated by Daoists as necessary means to attain immortality. Furthermore, the archaistic base, clearly inspired by the bronze wine vessel hu, employed in ancient times to present offerings to the ancestors, underscores the importance attributed to antiquity and Confucian state ideologies as inspirational keys for a harmonious society. For references, see E.Johnston, Auspicious Images of Children in China, in Orientations, no.27, pp.47-52. 

The very unusual form, combining naturalistic depictions of children and lotus with an archaistic bronze base appears to have only been employed on rhinoceros horn carvings and very few examples have been published. A related example combining a cup carved with branches of mallow and chrysanthemum emerging from the base of an archaistic hu is illustrated by J.Rawson, The Bristish Museum Book of Chinese Art, London, 1992, p.183, pl.134. Another example is illustrated by J.Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p.159, no.194 and further cup is illustrated by T.Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving, Hong Kong, 1999, p.169, no.119.

Bonhams. AUCTION 23237: FINE CHINESE ART, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET