Christie's Hong Kong to Offer Important Private Collection of Rhinoceros Horn Carvings Christie’s announces that it will offer Important Chinese Rhinoceros-Horn Carvings from the Songzhutang Collection on May 27 in Hong Kong.
News-Antique.com - Mar 15,2008 - Hong Kong – Christie’s announces that it will offer Important Chinese Rhinoceros-Horn Carvings
from the Songzhutang Collection on May 27 in Hong Kong. This collection, passionately
collected over several decades, offers 30 rare and important examples of rhinoceros horn
carvings and is one of the finest known private collections of this treasured and honored art
form. Long prized for medicinal and mystical powers, rhinoceros horn material was
extremely precious and expensive to obtain, making carvings such as those presented in this
collection difficult to acquire and rare to commission. Examples surviving to the present day
are considered extremely scarce and highly sought-after. This sale offers a singular
opportunity for collectors to acquire a work of art that for centuries has been considered
among the most valued in China. It also allows a wider audience the opportunity to witness
the beauty of this art form and to learn of its place in the history of China. Part of the
proceeds from this special collection, expected to realize US$5,000,000 – 7,000,000, will
benefit the Songzhutang Foundation and its work to aid poverty-stricken school children
in the northwestern regions and remote mountainous areas of Mainland China.
Important Chinese Rhinoceros Horn Carvings from the Songzhutang Collection
Rhinoceros horn carvings are among the rarest and
most precious of ancient Chinese works of art, and this
collection offers 30 exceedingly fine, museum-quality
examples, each unique in its design and execution. The
examples offered in this collection span a range of
forms, motifs and techniques, and include signed works
from this art form’s pre-eminent master carvers. Among the rich repertoire of subject
matter are landscapes and figures, plants and insects, fish and birds, as well as scenes from
daily life, plays on auspicious subjects, and themes taken from literary works of the time.
Among the highlights offered is a generously sized and exquisitely carved cup illustrating a
scene described in the Preface to Scholarly Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion written by the great
calligrapher Wang Xizhi (illustrated on previous page, estimate: HK$3,500,000 - 4,000,000). An
elegant and refined work, this cup features images of tall mountains, lush vegetation, an
exquisite pavilion and scholars engaged in various scholarly activities, which together create a
strong three dimensional story. The figure of Wang Xizhi (AD 307-365) is seen writing in
the Orchid Pavilion, while several scholars engage in activities around the cup - some
admiring the bamboo grove, others reciting poems under beneath pine trees. The figures are
carved with great attention to detail: facial features are clearly discernible and expressions are
vivid and animated. On the face of a cliff, in carved running script, is the phrase "Lush woods,
slender bamboo and winding stream,” inspired by the Preface. Also seen is the square seal with the
surname of the carver, Fang Hongzhai, who was active from the late Ming to the early Qing
dynasty and is known for extremely refined and detailed works, and whose work is found in
the Palace Museum in Beijing. Very few rhinoceros horn carvings
