A very rare and fine white jade 'musk mallow' cup


QianlongSuperbly carved as a blossoming musk mallow flower with five overlapping petals, borne on scrolling branches issuing musk mallow leaves and flower buds around the exterior of the cup, each petal detailed with incised lines, the stone of an even white tone, wood stand. 6.3cm (2 1/2in) high. (2).
|清乾隆 白玉雕葵花盃Provenance:William H. Moore (1848-1923), Hobe Sound, FloridaMarchant, LondonExhibited, Published and Illustrated:Marchant, 90th Anniversary Exhibition: Ninety Jades for 90 Years, London, 2015, no.77來源威廉H.莫爾（1848-1923），希望之聲灣區，佛羅里達倫敦Marchant展覽、出版及著錄：Marchant，《玉器九十，90週年特展》，倫敦，2015年，編號77William H. Moore (1848-1923) was an attorney who sat as director of a number of Steel Companies in the United States and was the chairman and founder of Nabisco.威廉H.莫爾（1848-1923）曾擔任美國多家鋼鐵企業的顧問律師，並且還是世界著名餅乾及休閒食品品牌納貝斯克公司的創始人之一。It is very rare to find jade cups carved in the form of musk mallow flowers. Compare a lotus-leaf brushwasher of similar form, from the collection of Humphrey K.F.Hui, illustrated by Humphrey K.F.Hui, Tina Yee-wan Pang and Yeung Chun-tong, Virtuous Treasures, Chinese Jade for the Scholars Table, Hong Kong, 2007, p.137. no.68. Another cup in the shape of a magnolia flower, from the C.P.Lin collection, is illustrated by Ip Yee, Chinese Jade Carving, Hong Kong, 1983, pp.240-1, no.215.Compare also with a related rhinoceros libation cup, late Ming dynasty, carved in the form of a musk mallow flower, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, illustrated by J.Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p.234, fig.337, which was later sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 30 May 2017, lot 66.白玉質，瑩潤白皙，盃身掏膛琢磨成秋葵花形，外壁陰刻花瓣經脈，其上浮雕秋葵枝葉，婉轉搖曳，花蕊層疊，和盃身主體一氣連枝。葵花紋飾常見於元明漆器以及明初瓷器，尤以元代剔紅，成化宮碗作著者稱名焉。清代《御定佩文齋廣羣芳譜》載：「秋葵，一名側金盞。莖高六、七尺，葉如芙蓉，深綠色，開岐叉，有五尖如人爪，形狹而多缺，六月放，花大如椀，鵞黃色，紫心，六瓣而側，雅淡堪玩，朝開、午收、暮落」。類似之花形玉雕杯，見香港許氏收藏一例蓮花杯，著錄於許建勳、彭綺雲編，《閣有天珍：中國文房玉雕》，香港大學美術博物館，2007年，頁137，編號68。另見香港長青館收藏一例玉蘭花杯，著錄於葉義，《中國玉雕》，香港藝術館，1983年，頁240-1，編號215。玉雕葵花盃頗少見，犀角雕者，如英國牛津大學阿什莫林博物館藏一件明末犀角雕葵花盃，形制和本拍品頗似，見簡·查普曼著，《中國的犀牛角雕刻藝術》，1999年，倫敦，頁234，編號337。亦可參考松竹堂舊藏一隻秋葵盃，題材類似，然玉質不及本件拍品，2017年5月30日售於香港邦瀚斯，拍品編號66。