CHINE - XVIIe/XVIIIe siècle - Lot 140

Lot 140
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Estimation :
150000 - 200000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 195 000EUR
CHINE - XVIIe/XVIIIe siècle - Lot 140
CHINE - XVIIe/XVIIIe siècle NO LIVE BIDDING ON THIS LOT - NO LIVE BIDDING ON THIS LOT **Important and rare libation cup made of honey and dark rhino horn featuring Zhang Qian sitting in his slender trunk shaped boat. He is holding a flypaper and a book in his hand. His bun is covered with a lotus leaf. The underside of the boat is finely chiselled with foaming waves. (Little missing). H. 14 cm - W. 39 cm. Green-stained ivory base forming waves on which the boat is set on a thin wooden base. (The underside of the base is missing). References: - Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999. pl. 265. - Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 78. CHINA - 17th/18th century Important and rare rhinoceros horn libation cup representing a Zhang Qian in a boat made of a tree trunk. He holds a fly whisk and a book, his topknot is covered with a lotus leaf. Underneath the boat, foaming waves intricately carved. It rests on a wood green tinted ivory stand representing waves on which the boat sails. 十七世紀 十八世紀-犀角雕張騫乘槎杯 犀角雕張騫乘槎杯 帶染色象牙座 Unlike the usual shapes usually bearing flower motifs, this rare rhinoceros horn pourer belongs to a small corpus comprising pourers and cups illustrating the motif of a scholar on a boat made from a tree trunk. Whether depicted carrying a book, a flycatcher or a lotus, this scholar is often associated with the figure of Zhang Qian, an explorer and official of the Han dynasty sent to the West to defend the empire. His travels were later fantasized in poetry, and he is said to have gone in search of the source of the Yangtze River, the origin of the Milky Way, thus assimilating him to an immortal. He is depicted on this pourer accompanied by a double-bottle, a motif traditionally associated with immortals. The theme of Zhang Qian descending from the Yangtze
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