Lot 3021. A carved rhinoceros horn 'Dragon and Lotus' cup, Qing dynasty, 18th century; 13.5 cm., 5 3/8 in. Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,180,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's

brilliantly conceived as a wide flaring lotus leaf with a lobed rim, the exterior alternatively adorned with circular and bracket-lobed cartouches of diaper design, one side carved in relief and openwork with a clambering chilong forming the handle, the horn of an attractive honey brown colour subtly darkening to a deep chestnut tone at the base, wood stand

Provenance: An American private collection.
Acquired in 1991.

Exhibited: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth - Gems of Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 2003-2005, cat. no. 117.

Note: Another rhinoceros horn cup of archastic shape decorated with an 'earth' diaper is in the Chester Beatty Library Collection, Dublin, Ireland, and is illustrated in Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, pl. 175.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 Apr 2014