A large Chinese carved pale celadon and russet jade rhyton vessel 青白玉雕觥杯

Elaborately-carved and well-polished, the exterior carved in high relief with archaistic scrolls against low relief fret-patterned ground, a phoenix spreading its wings beneath the spout, with a suspended ring, the handle intricately carved as a Qilong clambering over the rim, all above a dragon base, all finely-detailed; the interior of the mouth inscribed with an imperial poem by the Qianlong emperor, “Hetian yu longwei gong ge” (Song for a Hetian Jade Dragon Tail Rhyton) 《和闐玉龍尾觥歌》in bronze-script characters
H: 7 ¼ in.

《和闐玉龍尾觥歌》
和闐石子出玉河，歲久土氣受浸多
質之炎漢無差訛，古式觥製龍尾髿
相材弗致大琢磨，之而隱現雲中羅
堪介紹殷耸周獻，偶陳棐几供吟哦
㫖酒有戒勿用他

The form of the present jade cup, Gong (Guang), may be considered a composite of Shang dynasty bronze ritual objects used as a wine vessels and ancient Persian drinking vessels. The upright form, derived from Persian drinking cups, themselves based on animal-horn drinking vessels, is overlaid with fabulous beasts and archaistic scrolls influenced by the bronzes of the Shang and Zhou periods. In China, an early example of carved jade drinking vessel of rhyton-form is the famous jade rhyton discovered in the Western Han tomb of the King of Nanyue, Wen Wang who died in 122 B.C.

During the Qianlong period, the Emperor and wealthy patrons favored such magnificent works in jade which harkened back to earlier periods. As collectors of ancient bronzes and jades, such a vessel would have been greatly appreciated. The incised poem on the interior of the vessel is based on a poem composed by the Qianlong Emperor (1735-1796), “Hetian yu longwei gong ge”, complimenting his beloved archaistic jade Gong in dragon-tail form. In the poem, the emperor explicitly refers to the "Gong" as having been carved in the archaic style of a Han dynasty antiquity. The scattered russet-colored “skin” of the present lot accentuates its appearance as an “archaic” piece. Compare a similar inscribed example, sold at Sotheby's, Paris, June 9, 2011, lot 23; see also another inscribed jade vessel, dated to 1785, sold at Christie's, Hong Kong, November 30, 2011, lot 2963.

是件觥杯形製或受啟於殷商青銅酒器與古波斯角杯。佇立之形體，應借鑒古波斯獸角杯，而其上盤龍瑞獸則更近商周青銅禮器。是類絕非孤例，囊括一聞名遐邇西漢玉來通杯，約公元前122年，出土於廣州南越文王墓。

清時，皇親貴胄均鐘情於是類碩大玉作倣古器。而是件拍品之類，則尤以青銅古玉好者趨之若鶩。內壁上刻乾隆御題詩《和闐玉龍尾觥歌》，以讚是類玉器，而詩中明示是類觥為倣漢制。是件拍品星點黃褐皮色更為凸顯其為一倣古之作。見一近例釋出於巴黎蘇富比，2011年，六月9日，拍品編號23；另一御題詩例子釋出於香港佳士得，2011年，11月30日，拍品編號2963.