A YELLOW AND RUSSET JADE 'BUFFALO' RHYTON CUP Ming Dynasty (2)A YELLOW AND RUSSET JADE 'BUFFALO' RHYTON CUPMing DynastyOf deep-U shape with a buffalo head at the base, incised with archaistic taotie mask underneath a geometric band, the yellow and russet stone cleverly worked to accentuate the buffalo's snout, box. 4.8cm (1 7/8in) (2).明 黃玉牛首來通杯 Provenance:Sotheby's Hong Kong, 4 June 2020, lot 403來源：香港蘇富比，2020年6月4日，拍品編號403Animal-headed rhytons probably began in China as a result of Sassanian influence in about the 7th century, and the use of the rhyton cup as wine vessel in China goes back to at least the beginning of the Han dynasty. Yet a rhyton cup of such delicate size as the present lot is very rare, see for example a Tang dynasty burnt white jade carved bovine-headed rhyton in the Metropolitan Museum collection, illustrated in Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing, New York, 1980, p.55. Compare also a closely related jade rhyton with a buffalo head from the Durwin Tang collection, Song/Ming, which was sold in these rooms on 27 November 2018, lot 166.黃玉質，底部雕牛首，背面陰刻饕餮紋，靠口沿處雕圓穿孔，內膛掏空至牛鼻處。 來通為音譯，源自古希臘語 rhŭtón，為角形酒器，曾流行於整個歐亞大陸，時間貫穿古希臘、古羅馬以及中國商代至漢唐。此杯為明代仿古器，仍然保留來通杯動物首及角形。紐約大都會博物館藏一件唐代玉雕牛首來通杯，見屈志仁著，《Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing》，紐約，1980年，頁55。另可比較一件天珍堂舊藏宋/明玉雕來通杯，形制裝飾與本件頗似，惟較大之，2018年11月27日售於香港邦瀚斯，拍品編號166。