A FINE RHINOCEROS HORN 'LANDSCAPE' LIBATION CUP QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD

of tapering truncated form, the rich reddish-brown horn finely carved around the exterior with a groom leading a sage on horseback across a stream, closely followed by an attendant carrying provisions, all set within a mountainous landscape of overhanging rocks and swirling mist, set to the side with a handle formed from the trunk of an old gnarled pine tree  

It is rare to find rhinoceros horn cups decorated with figures and the present cup is especially fine for its meticulous and deep carving of this rare subject matter. Carvings of this type are influenced by painted handscrolls as the design extends from one side to the other and can be appreciated by turning the cup as if unfolding a scroll painting. The carving on the present cup is detailed with special attention paid to the two attendant figures helping their master on horseback cross the river. Jan Chapman in The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, pp. 201-202, notes that scholars depicted on horseback are frequently accompanied by a groom or servants who help them and are shown always dressed in the traditional clothing, with the scholar in a long gown and the attendants in short jackets, trousers and sandals.

See a cup carved with a scholar standing on a bridge over a ravine, in the Avery Brundage Collection, illustrated ibid., pl. 275; and a vessel decorated with figures in landscape, in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, included ibid., pl. 77. Compare also a cup sold in these rooms, 12th July 2006, lot 1; and another sold in our New York rooms, 20th March 2002, lot 292, although depicting the Eight Daoist Immortals but the handle of the cup similarly carved as an openwork pine tree.