Period:Ming dynasty Production date:14thC-17thC
Materials:jade
Technique:incised
Subjects:dragon mask
Dimensions:Height: 14.50 centimetres Width: 13 centimetres
Description:
Rhyton in pale oatmeal-grey jade, finely hollowed: the base formed as an archaic dragon’s head mask; the coiled bifid horn forming the handle, the body of the cup carved in low relief with clorid and fungus forms, and with a chih-dragon climbing over the rim.
IMG
![图片[1]-rhyton BM-2022-3034.234-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Ming dynasty/Jades/560_.jpg)
Comments:This vessel takes the form of the traditional horn-shaped rhyton used in China. It has an almost vertical cup, widening to an uneven lip from a narrow base. The lower part is held in the jaws of a dragon, whose neck is rendered as a twisted bifurcated spiral. The surface of the supper part of the cup is incised with c-shaped scrolls derived from Han dynasty jade ornament, and a feline dragon is likewise copied from Han examples. Rhytons in jade seem to have been introduced to China in the Han dynasty, when other Central or Western Asian luxuries were popular at court. It seems possible that objects from the West were regarded as in some sense miraculous and associated with spirits and deities, such as the Queen Mother of the West, or simply with power over distant lands. A rhyton from the tomb of the King of Nan Yue at Canton is a standard Han dynasty example. Although horn-shaped over all, it is difficult to imagine how the bifurcated twisted tip came to be turned back on itself so sharply. However, such tips remained a constant element of Ming and later pieces, as seen here and on a less elaborate piece in the V&A museum. Even a late Qing example in the BM has the twisted section, if somewhat stiffened. However, what is not present on the Nan Yue rhyton is a dragon head gulping the cu. This seems to be a later invention, perhaps required in a Chinese context to provide a visual explanation of the source for the twisted bifurcated tip. The later cups also took from the Han example the interlocking scrolls, although in all the later examples they are both loose and standardised. The ornament on the Han rhyton is extremely sophisticated, with a tiny head just below the lip, suggesting that relief bands on the cup are sections of the body of a feline dragon, or some other imaginary beast. It is possible that on other Han rhytons the creature or creatures were more explicit and that it was from such sources that later craftsmen took the idea of adding dragons to the surfaces of the cups. See Rawson 1995, p.396, cat.no.29.8. Ming dynasty. Height 5-1/2 ins.
Materials:jade
Technique:incised
Subjects:dragon mask
Dimensions:Height: 14.50 centimetres Width: 13 centimetres
Description:
Rhyton in pale oatmeal-grey jade, finely hollowed: the base formed as an archaic dragon’s head mask; the coiled bifid horn forming the handle, the body of the cup carved in low relief with clorid and fungus forms, and with a chih-dragon climbing over the rim.
IMG
Comments:This vessel takes the form of the traditional horn-shaped rhyton used in China. It has an almost vertical cup, widening to an uneven lip from a narrow base. The lower part is held in the jaws of a dragon, whose neck is rendered as a twisted bifurcated spiral. The surface of the supper part of the cup is incised with c-shaped scrolls derived from Han dynasty jade ornament, and a feline dragon is likewise copied from Han examples. Rhytons in jade seem to have been introduced to China in the Han dynasty, when other Central or Western Asian luxuries were popular at court. It seems possible that objects from the West were regarded as in some sense miraculous and associated with spirits and deities, such as the Queen Mother of the West, or simply with power over distant lands. A rhyton from the tomb of the King of Nan Yue at Canton is a standard Han dynasty example. Although horn-shaped over all, it is difficult to imagine how the bifurcated twisted tip came to be turned back on itself so sharply. However, such tips remained a constant element of Ming and later pieces, as seen here and on a less elaborate piece in the V&A museum. Even a late Qing example in the BM has the twisted section, if somewhat stiffened. However, what is not present on the Nan Yue rhyton is a dragon head gulping the cu. This seems to be a later invention, perhaps required in a Chinese context to provide a visual explanation of the source for the twisted bifurcated tip. The later cups also took from the Han example the interlocking scrolls, although in all the later examples they are both loose and standardised. The ornament on the Han rhyton is extremely sophisticated, with a tiny head just below the lip, suggesting that relief bands on the cup are sections of the body of a feline dragon, or some other imaginary beast. It is possible that on other Han rhytons the creature or creatures were more explicit and that it was from such sources that later craftsmen took the idea of adding dragons to the surfaces of the cups. See Rawson 1995, p.396, cat.no.29.8. Ming dynasty. Height 5-1/2 ins.
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