Jan Chapman, author of The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, describes this type of cup as a 'full-tip cup', one that utilizes the full horn. She explains that the more complex the decoration of the horn surface, the later it was carved with horns such as one exhibited in the Durham University Oriental Museum, op. cit., fig. 38, extravagantly carved and pierced all over, dating to the late 19th century and most probably from Canton. The current lot dates to an earlier period, probably from the early to the mid-19th century, and best relates to another two rhinoceros horn carvings in The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, illustrated op. cit., nos. 273 and 274.