Lot 143. A pale green and russet jade rhyton cup, Ming Dynasty. Sold for £27,500 (€35,710). Photo: Bonhams. 

The well-hollowed vessel supported by the long tusks and trunk of an elephant head with almond-shaped eyes, the central band carved with archaistic designs beneath a further band of lappets with key-fret borders, a chilong with bifurcated tail clambering up the side, the pale stone with russet and milky-white inclusions, box and wood stand.8.2cm (3 1/4in) high (3). 

Compare with a related archaistic elephant-head shaped rhyton cup, but dated to the Qing dynasty, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, pl.140.