A rare rhinoceros horn lion-handled betel-nut cutter


19th centuryThe handle carved as a lion with a curved back crouching on the mounted metal cutting blade, the beast depicted with bulbous eyes, flaring nostrils and an open mouth revealing its teeth, the spine well defined in low relief and the manes finely incised, with the claws grasping a series of elaborate knots terminating at the bottom, the blade with a sharp and curved edge, the horn of an attractive light brown tone, box. 9cm (3 1/2in) long (2).
|十九世紀 犀角雕獅形鍘刀Provenance:A European private collectionAngela Chua Collection, Hong KongExhibited:Hong Kong Museum of Art, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth: Gems of Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong, 2002-2005 來源：歐洲私人收藏香港蔡劉木蘭女士收藏展覽：2002-2005年間於香港藝術館《金木水火土：香港文物收藏精品展》中展出It is extremely rare to find a betel-nut cutter made of rhinoceros horn, which is probably among the rarest categories of rhinoceros horn carvings, see J.Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p.112. Compare three related examples of rhinoceros horn betel-nut cutters mounted with a movable blade: the first, carved in the form of a horse in the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museum, Cambridge, Mass., illustrated in ibid., no.107; the second, carved as a horse, from the collection of Franklin Chow (and later sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2013, lot 3254) and the third carved in the form of a lion, illustrated by T.Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, nos.182 and 183.犀角器中以犀角杯居多，此類犀角雕小鍘刀屬於犀角雕刻中最為罕見的類別之一，傳世品中甚為少見，或為貴族用以開硬殼果的器具，有關論述可參考Jan Chapman，《中國的犀牛角雕刻藝術》，倫敦，1999年，頁112。現存犀角雕小鍘刀之例包括哈佛大學賽克勒博物館藏一件馬形小鍘刀，見同上著錄，編號107；另一例亦雕馬形，為仇大雄先生舊藏，後來售於香港蘇富比，2013年10月8日，拍品3254，及劉木蘭女士藏一例，雕獅形，著錄於霍滿棠，《中國犀角雕刻珍賞》，香港，1999年，圖182及183。