China. Of oval section with deep U-shaped sides bending slightly to imitate the natural curvature of a horn, one side carved in high relief with a dragon, its head issuing from the side with a ruyi-shaped nose and finely incised mane, its feet forming the base of the vessel, the wings rendered in low relief wrapping around each side of the rhyton with archaistic flourishes.

Provenance: British private collection.
Condition: Excellent condition with old wear. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks over time.

Weight: 378.5 g
Dimensions: Height 12 cm

Above the dragon with stylized archaistic scrolls as well as a key-fret band below the rim. The translucent stone of a pale celadon tone with gray and russet shadings. Two horizontal piercings for suspension, one at the mouth and the other below the beard of the dragon.

Rhyton cups in the form of an animal or an animal’s head appeared in China as early as the Western Han dynasty. There was a resurgence of interest in this form in the Song dynasty, and the enthusiasm was sustained through the subsequent Yuan, Ming, and Qing periods. Later jade rhytons, including the present example, are typically decorated with archaistic motifs including mythical creatures and ground patterns derived from ancient bronze vessels.

Literature comparison: Compare a Ming dynasty gray jade rhyton with chilong in high relief and openwork in the collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in Michael Knight et al., Later Chinese Jades: Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, 2007, pl. 151; another with chilong attributed to the latter half of the Ming dynasty in the collection of the Musée Guimet, Paris, exhibited in Jade: From Emperors to Art Deco, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2018, cat. no. 97.

Auction result comparison: Compare with a related rhyton, of slightly smaller size and carved with a heavenly bird, at Sotheby’s New York in Chinese Art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Florence and Herbert Irving Gift on 10 September 2019, lot 71, sold for USD 17,500.

十七世紀青玉雕仿古神獸紋觥形杯
中國，十七世紀。這青玉觥則是神獸負皿形狀。青玉觥以神獸形設計，揹馱酒杯，兩側浮雕雙翼。橢圓形截面，側面略微彎曲以模仿角的自然曲率，一側雕刻有龍形浮雕，其頭部從側面鉆出，如意形的鼻子和雕刻精細的鬃毛。整器古風盎然。

來源：英國私人收藏
品相：狀況良好，有舊磨損。 具有天然裂縫的玉石，隨著時間的流逝，其中一些可能會發展成細小的裂縫。

重量： 378.5 克
尺寸： 高 12 厘米

玉觥杯上螭龍紋，青色調的半透明玉石，帶有灰色和赤褐色陰影。兩個水平的穿孔用於懸掛，一個在嘴上，另一個在龍鬚下方。
玉觥仿祭祀用青銅觥。觥形杯是盛酒器，外形多以一或數種動物姿態，配合酒器形狀設計。部分款式只有頭蓋是獸形，亦有整尊皆為獸形。動物或動物頭部形式的觥形杯最早出現在西漢時期。在宋朝，人們對這種形式的興趣再次興起，這種熱情在隨後的元、明、清時期得到了延續。 後來的玉觥杯，包括本例，通常都裝飾有古風圖案，包括神話人物和源自古代青銅器皿的圖案。

文獻比較: 在舊金山亞洲藝術博物館的收藏了一件明代灰玉鏤空雕刻螭龍觥形杯，見Michael Knight等人所著的《亞洲玉器：明朝至二十世紀初》（Later Chinese Jades: Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco），San Francisco, 2007, 圖151; 另一個明代中期后的螭龍觥形杯展出于巴黎吉梅博物館Jade: From Emperors to Art Deco, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2018, cat. 圖 97。

拍賣結果比較：一件尺寸較小的鳥形玉玉觥杯售于紐約蘇富比Chinese Art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Florence and Herbert Irving Gift 拍場，2019年9月10日，lot 71, 售價 USD 17,500。