A RARE BAMBOO ROOT CUP

Simple, undecorated bamboo cups and bowls of this type dating from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties are quite rare, perhaps due to the attrition of time with a utilitarian object.

For a similar bamboo root cup, also with irregular rhizomes around the body, but with a silvered-copper liner and an applied handle made from a section of branch, see G. Tsang and H. Moss, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 171, no. 48.