AN ARCHAISTIC RHINOCEROS HORN LIBATION CUP, JUE China, 17th – early 18th century. This cup, in the form of the well-known bronze ritual vessel jue, exhibits a superb 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. 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 grams Dimensions: Height 12.3 cm The horn of a deep honey color, darkening towards the legs, and a silky natural patina. 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. 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. Also compare with 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: Compare with another Rhinoceros horn jue, bearing almost identical splayed blade legs, at Sotheby’s New York, on March 20th, 2012, in Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, lot 197. THIS LOT CAN ONLY BE SHIPPED WITHIN THE EU OR PICKED UP IN OUR GALLERY DIRECTLY. 清犀角雕杯（爵） 中國，十七至十八世紀早期。青銅爵形犀角雕杯展示了匠師高超的技巧，利用不同向外彎曲的部分，形成三個張開的杯足。 來源：來自Malcolm Moncrieff Stuart收藏，保存至今。Stuart曾從1928年到1949年擔任印度公務員國家治安法官。退休後他回到了蘇格蘭的愛丁堡。 品相：唇沿和杯躰上有些磕損，輕微老化裂縫。絕對是原始狀態。 重量：133.5 克 尺寸：高12.3 厘米