China, 17th to early 18th century. Finely carved, one side of the vessel with a flattened spout, the other slightly raised and tapering into a wide curve. The lip surrounded by a wave border incised in shallow relief. The body carved with two sinuous chilong holding branches of lingzhi in their mouths. The rhinoceros horn of a deep honey color, darkening towards the legs, and with a silky, naturally grown patina.

Provenance: From the collection of Malcolm Moncrieff Stuart, OBE, CIE, and thence by descent. Stuart was a State Magistrate in the Civil Service in India from 1928 and 1949. After retiring he returned to Edinburgh, Scotland.
Condition: Some losses to lip and body, minor age cracks. Absolutely untouched original condition.

Weight: 133.5 g
Dimensions: Height 12.3 cm

The present libation cup, superbly carved in the form of the well-known bronze ritual vessel jue, exhibits an exceptional level of skill exercised by the carver, who used the highly complex technique of bending different sections of the split horn outwards to form the three splayed blade legs.

Literature comparison:
See T. Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, page 93, lot 46, for a similar libation cup from the collection of Chun-hung Li. Compare a rhinoceros horn jue decorated with a taotie design illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Shanghai, 2001, pl. 205, together with a four-legged ding form cup, pl. 206, and a tripod ding vessel, pl. 207.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 April 2011, lot 2710
Price: HKD 2,420,000 or approx. EUR 413,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rhinoceros horn ‘jue’ libation cup, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the related color of the horn, splayed legs, and chilong decoration. Note the size (11 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 20 March 2012, lot 197
Price: USD 182,500 or approx. EUR 230,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare rhinoceros horn archaistic libation cup (jue), Qing dynasty, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the related color of the horn and splayed legs. Note the size (10.2 cm).



清初螭龍紋犀角杯
中國，十七至十八世紀初。爵形杯，雕刻精美，杯子一側的杯流扁平，另一側略微凸起並逐漸變細。杯口外壁淺浮雕波浪紋，外壁浮雕兩條螭龍，嘴裡叼著靈芝。犀角杯呈深蜜色，向腿部往下逐漸變深，並帶有絲般的光澤。

來源：Malcolm Moncrieff Stuart 收藏，OBE，CIE，保存至今。Stuart曾從 1928 年到 1949 年，擔任印度州治安法官。退休後，他回到了蘇格蘭的愛丁堡。
品相：杯口和杯體有局部磕損，輕微的年代裂縫。原始狀況。

重量：133.5 克
尺寸：高 12.3 厘米

文獻比較：
一件相似的犀角杯，Chun-hung Li收藏，見 T. Fok，《Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China》，頁93，lot 46。比較一件饕餮紋犀角爵，見《故宮博物院藏珍品全集‧竹木牙角雕刻》，上海，2001年，編號205，與一件四足鼎杯，編號206，和三足鼎，編號207。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：相近
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2011年4月7日，lot 2710
價格：HKD 2,420,000（相當於今日EUR 413,500）
描述：十七世紀爵形犀角杯
專家評論：比較相近的犀角顏色、杯腳外撇和螭龍裝飾。請注意尺寸(11厘米)。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：相近
拍賣：紐約蘇富比，2012年3月20日，lot 197
價格：USD 182,500（相當於今日EUR 230,500）
描述：十七世紀爵形犀角杯
專家評論：比較相近的犀角顏色和杯腳外撇。請注意尺寸(10.2厘米)。