Rhino Horn Artifact (Rhino Horn-Carved Ewer with Dragon Patterns by Bao Tiancheng)

The rhino horn-carved ewer was made by Bao Tiancheng, a renowned sculptor in Jiangsu during the late Ming Dynasty. Bao excelled in ivory and horn carving, and many of his works were collected in the imperial palace. Precious and small, rhino horns were hardly ever used to make ewers and pots. There is no sign that this ewer was ever used for its purpose, so it has been conjectured that the artifact was made as a collectible curio.

The ewer has a helmet-shaped lid that can be opened. Four circles of decorations surround its body including two circles of dragon patterns, one circle of animal face patterns, and another circle of banana leaf patterns. The spout and handle are also covered by dragon patterns. Most of the rhino horn products have no signs to identify their makers. However, the bottom of this exquisite ewer is carved with the inscriptions "Made by Bao Tiancheng".

This rhino horn-carved ewer was once lost abroad. Eventually, Yip Yi (1919-1984), a patriotic collector in Hong Kong, donated it to the Palace Museum.

Originally from Guangdong, Yip became a well-known surgeon in Hong Kong. He developed a hobby of collecting relics, especially bamboo, wood, and horn artifacts. In the 1980s, Yip visited Beijing and met Yang Boda, a cultural heritage expert at the Palace Museum, to whom Yip expressed his donation intention but suddenly died of illness before the donation was made. In January 1985, the executors of his will in Hong Kong donated all 81 rhino horn artifacts in his collection to the Palace Museum.

The rhino horn artifacts donated by Yip had significantly enriched the collection of similar relics in the Palace Museum, and testified to the Hong Kong collector's allegiance to the motherland.

犀角器（鮑天成款犀角雕螭紋執壺）

犀角雕螭紋執壺，為明末江蘇一帶雕刻能手鮑天成所制。他擅雕牙角材質，作品多進入宮廷。犀角珍貴且尺寸小，鮮少用于制壺，此壺幾乎沒有使用痕跡，應為文玩。

壺有盔帽狀的壺蓋，可以打開。壺身紋飾分四層，兩層為蟠夔紋，獸面紋、蕉葉紋各一層。出水口和壺把均有螭龍圍繞。犀角制品大多不記錄制作者，此壺底有“鮑天成制”款識，屬難得佳作。

這只犀角壺曾流失海外，為香港愛國收藏家葉義捐贈。葉義先生祖籍廣東，是香港有名的外科醫生。他業余愛好收藏，尤其喜歡竹木牙角類文物。20世紀80年代葉義訪京，與故宮文物專家楊伯達相識，達成捐贈意向。可惜意向還未實現，葉義便驟然病逝。其香港友人受托執行遺囑，于1985年1月將他收藏的81件犀角器悉數捐贈故宮博物院。

這批犀角器的到來，不僅大大豐富了故宮博物院此類文物的館藏數量，亦是香港收藏家拳拳愛國之心的見證。