COUPE LIBATOIRE EN CORNE DE RHINOCEROS SCULPTEE

The rhinoceros horn is considered as one of the 'Eight Precious' symbols. It was known to the Chinese for its power to detect poison which resulted in the creation of these specific food and drink vessels.
The quality of carving of this horn is exquisite and three-dimensional. Some very nice and close examples of such rhinoceros horns with landscapes and figure motives can be found on Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong 1999, pls. 131 and 167. These two examples have similar landscape patterns and also the same trunks of pine trees powerfully modeled and rising over the rim into the cup.