A rhinoceros horn archaistic libation cup, 18th century. Photo Bonhams.

The horn finely carved in a simple archaistic style, with the delicately lobed exterior raised on a stepped foot, the shallow handle formed as a stylised chilong with its head and front paws grasping the rim of the cup, the interior rim with a fine key-fret border above veining in imitation of petals radiating from the well. 12.4cm (4 7/8in) long. Estimate £3,000 - 5,000 (€3,600 - 6,100)

Provenance: acquired by the great uncle of the present owner, who travelled in the Far East from about 1900 to early 1920s
An English private collection

The present cup is notable for its sophisticated and deceptively simple design, leaving much of the surface comparatively smooth and embellished only with simple archaistic borders and a strongly stylised chilong. A similar shape and design appears on a larger 18th century cup illustrated by T.Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, p.69, pl.22. Another cup, similar in design and size and dated ca.1650-1700, is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, museum no.782-1903.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART. London, New Bond Street, 15 May 2014 - www.bonhams.com