THE HOQUA GIFT RHINOCEROS HORN BOWL A RHINOCEROS HORN 'LOTUS' BOWL MING DYNASTY, 15TH CENTURY

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in the form of a lotus flower, the exterior and interior correspondingly carved with two rows of stylized lotus flower petals, the top row of the petals flaring to the foliate rim, the center realistically carved with a seed pod formed by scattered incised circles each with a dot in the centre, the horn of golden-yellow patina darkening in the well of the interior

Hoqua (by repute).
Collection of William Couper, Charleston, South Carolina, circa 1830s (by repute).
Collection of Leo D. Arons, Princeton, New Jersey, 1987.
Sotheby's New York, 3^rd June 1987, lot 293.
Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1987.

Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 89, pl. 69.

The overall condition is very good apart from a few natural age cracks. The patina is quite lustrous.
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The present bowl has an interesting history, as it is known to have been given as a gift from the well-known Canton merchant Hoqua (also spelled How Qua) (Wu Bingjian b. 1769-1843), one of the most important and wealthiest Hong merchants in the Thirteen Factories and the leader of the Canton cohong (merchant guild), to the American tea merchant William Couper in the 1830s. A portrait by George Chinnery (1774-1852) of Hoqua was included in the exhibition Picturing Catay. Maritime and Cultural Images of the China Trade, The Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2002, cat. no. 14. Amongst all the Hong merchants, it is said that Hoqua made the strongest impression on foreigners with his generous and honourable nature (see ibid., p. 73). William Couper travelled the Far East and Europe, including Edinburgh and London, as a tea merchant between 1831 and 1844. His correspondence with his family during this period is held in the Princeton University Library's Manuscript Division. This rhinoceros horn bowl would have been a substantial gift attesting to Hoqua's refined taste for things special and beautiful.

The double row of petals seen on the interior of the bowl resemble early Ming period ceramic forms such as the Xuande mark and period bowl illustrated in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 67.

Chapman, op.cit., p. 88, suggests that the bowl is made from the horn of Black African rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) as were the majority of bowls, especially those of larger diameter. She further notes that 'this horn species is the only one which is virtually circular in shape, grows to a very large size and, even more important for the making of bowls, has almost straight sides at the "well" end.' The present cup is of the characteristic translucent golden-yellow colouration on the exterior with a much darker core. It also shows considerable age with the body evenly suffused with a series of thin natural fissures.

For examples of plain bowls see one from the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass., included in Chapman, op.cit., p. 220, pl. 309, with a four-character Xuande mark incised on its base; another Ming bowl from the collection of Dora Wong, published in Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 62, together with another small plain bowl attributed to the Song dynasty, from the collection of Thomas Fok, pl. 52. Also compare a bowl, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Shanghai, 2001, pl. 123, attributed to the late Ming period.