Rhinoceros Horn Chalice. Southern Germany. Circa 1680/1700.  Photo Van Ham

Turned rhinoceros horn. Round, turned foot culminating in a bowl, from which the baluster shaped shaft extends. Beaker-shaped cuppa with slightly flared brim. Height 18,8cm. Condition B. Ca. 222g. 

Literature:  Eugen von Philippovich. Kuriositäten/Antiquitäten. Braunschweig 1966. For this material, see pg. 460ff. For this type, see pg. 464, fig. 311. 

Many of the turned objects in materials like ivory and rhinoceros horn originate from workshops in southern Germany. The turner Peter Zick von Rudolf II. of Nuremberg was even called to the royal court in Prague to teach the emperor to turn horn and bone. A rhinoceros horn chalice turned by emperor Rudolph can be seen in the national museum of Copenhagen. The inscription on it mentions, among other things, the ability of the material to repel poisons.
Since the antique era, scholars had been convinced that a poisoned liquid would bubble and fizz when poured into a cup made from this material, thus allowing it to be recognized.
It was also believed that drinks served in rhinoceros horn glasses would help combat fever.
These beliefs led to the horn being widely processed and sold as an expensive exotic medicine in European pharmacies.

Cf. Dirk Syndram. Geschirrlein aus Renotzerhorn in Dirk Syndram (HG.) Naturschätze, Kunstschätze. Bielefeld 1991. pg.52).

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