Cf. D. Howard and J. Ayers, op.cit., p.583 for the same form but with different enamels. The author states that 'The Rhyton cup was familiar in Tang China, when examples are found in both pottery and jade. Its survival in the eighteenth century can be seen as a conscious archaism among a sophisticated scholar class; and although something very similar is to be found in Staffordshire pottery of the late eighteenth century, it is unlikely that this Chinese cup was originally intended for export'. See also A. du Boulay, op.cit., p.297. A similar pair enamelled in a different palette was sold in our Rooms, 21 March 1988, lot 363