A RARE AND EXQUISTELY CARVED SMALL RHINOCEROS HORN PHOENIX-FORM LIBATION CUP - MING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY

Finely carved as a phoenix with its gracefully arched neck lowered to form the handle at one end, grasping a be-ribboned scroll in its beak, delicately carved in shallow relief inside and out with layers of overlapping feathers and curled plumes flanking the neck, its tail issuing from the interior and continuing on to the flat foot, the horn of reddish-brown tone lightening slightly at the rim. 2 7/8 in. (7.2 cm.) across, wood stand, box. Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 gm.). Estimate: HK$600,000 - HK$800,000 ($78,000 - $100,000)

Literature: T. Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 238, no.177
Art and Collection, 2001, no. 105

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth: Gems of Antiquities Collection in Hong Kong, 2002-2005.

Lot Notes: Previously sold at Christie's New York, 2 June 1994, lot 4

Christie's Hong Kong. Important Chinese Rhinoceros Horn Carvings from the Songzhutang Collection. 27 May 2008