A PALE GREEN AND RUSSET JADE ARCHAISTIC RHYTON CUP 18th century (2)A PALE GREEN AND RUSSET JADE ARCHAISTIC RHYTON CUP18th centuryThe lower body carved in high relief around the sides with a finely detailed bearded chilong dragon with single horn jutting backwards and its flowy long mane on the rounded tip of the vessel, all below a narrow rope-twist border separating it from a field of small detached scrolls on the upper body, with a narrow key-fret band encircling the rim, the stone of pale green tone with areas of the russet skin highlighting the overall design, box. 13cm (5 1/8in) high. (2).十八世紀 青白玉仿古龍尾觥The present jade rhyton cup is known as a gong named after an archaic bronze covered pouring vessel of similar shape, the shape was most probably derived from trade links with Central or Western Asia during the Han dynasty. See a jade rhyton from the tomb of the King of Nan Yue, illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.70, fig.61.Encouraged by the Qianlong Emperor's passion for archaic jades and bronzes, Qing craftsmen began to look at the past for inspiration and adapt the forms and designs of archaic jades and bronzes into their pieces. While the present lot is based on the archaic bronze model, the design that embellishes the exterior is firmly based in the 18th century, depicting a highly stylised dragon unfolding across the surface thus distinguishing it from other jade vessels of this form that are more commonly decorated with stylised archaic designs of taotie and cicada leaves.Compare with a larger spinach-green jade archaistic rhyton, Qianlong, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji, vol.2, Shijiazhuang, 2005, p.541, no.35. See also a related example of a larger white jade archaistic rhyton from the Florence and Herbert Irving collection, 17th-18th century, sold at Christie's New York, 20 March 2019, lot 804.器型依玉材之形稍加變化，上部寬，曲口，下部較窄，觥口飾回紋一周，其下有仿古勾雲紋及一周繩綯紋，腹部流口下凸雕龍首，口朝上，髮在下，似倒置，兩腮分於觥用兩側，腮部向外有較長的卷雲，龍首及觥腹間隙飾仿古勾雲紋。玉觥為仿古器，仿漢代玉角形杯造型，其風格來自漢與西域的文化交流，深受中亞來通杯的影響。廣州西漢南越王墓出土一件青白玉角形杯，即為此種造型，見Jessica Rawson著《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995年，頁70，圖版61。乾隆帝慕古尚雅，喜好高古玉器及青銅器，故清廷藝匠亦取靈感於遠古，仿效其造型紋飾。本品雖以青銅觥為本，紋飾卻屬十八世紀，相近造型之玉器多飾仿古獸面紋或蟬紋，本品紋飾，截然出眾。參考一件清宮舊藏，見楊伯達編，《中國玉器全集（中）》，石家莊，2005年，頁541，編號35，其器形及仿古龍紋飾皆與本拍品甚爲接近。另可比較紐約佳士得於2019年3月20日拍賣一例歐雲伉儷藏白玉仿古龍尾觥，拍品804號。