A rhinoceros horn 'lotus leaf' libation cup, 17th-18th century.  Photo Bonhams

The interior of the cup incised with veins rising to the irregular scalloped rim, the leaf motif repeated on the exterior rising from a band of breaking waves, two baby dragons emerging from it on one side and a third on the other, the handle formed as one smaller and one larger chilong side by side. 16.2cm (6 3/8in) wide - Lot 222^Y. Estimate: £50,000 - 80,000 / CNY 500,000 - 800,000 / HK$ 620,000 - 990,000

Compare a related rhinoceros horn 'lotus and chilong' libation cup, 17th century, from the Franklin Chow collection, illustrated by T.Fok in Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, pl.24, and later sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, on 8 April 2011, lot 2707.

Bonhams. 17 May 2012 10 a.m. London, New Bond Street. Fine Chinese Art