32. M3845

£7,500


Description

Chinese Blanc de Chine fluted libation cup of rhinoceros horn form, moulded with overhanging rocks beneath the rim, covered overall in a rich and even cream glaze, the tip of the horn unglazed.

4 3⁄4 inches, 12.1 cm wide.

Dehua, Fujian Province.

Ming dynasty, circa 1640.

Wood stand.

Provenance & Additional Information

  • From a private French collection.
  • A similarly moulded plain example with an incised inscription is in the collection of the British Museum, donated by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, museum no. Franks.670; another was included by Derek Gillman in A Source of Rhinoceros Horn Cups in the Late Ming Dynasty, Orientations, December 1984, fig. 9; a related example with a longer point and bearing an inscription is illustrated by P. J. Donnelly in Blanc de Chine, pl. 24B where it is described as a wedding cup.
  • A similar example applied with prunus branches, previously published by Kenson Kwok in Blanc de Chine, The Hickley Collection, Arts of Asia, November/December 1993, fig. 5, is illustrated by Rose Kerr and John Ayers in Blanc de Chine, Porcelain from Dehua, A Catalogue of the Hickley Collection, Singapore, no. 126, where the authors also illustrate the more well- known figural example, no. 127; another lightly moulded cup with a dragon’s head above a tiger and with a stag is illustrated by Regina Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Vol 2, 1994, no. 988, p. 296.
  • Very few plain examples appear recorded.
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