RHINOCEROS-HORN CUP WITH SCENES FROM "ROMANCE OF THE WESTERN CHAMBER"
17th century

Ming or early Qing dynasty

Rhinoceros horn
H: 20.4 W: 18.6 D: 9.5 cm
China

Chinese carving

Rhinoceros-horn

Elaborately carved rhinoceros-horn cups were fashionable as decorations in seventeenth-century China and were occasionally used as drinking vessels; early legends secured favor for rhino horn, which was said to change color in contact with poison. This cup portrays multiple scenes from a dramatic love comedy, Romance of the Western Chamber. The episode near the top of the cup on the viewer's right depicts the Buddhist temple where the lovers first meet. The top left is carved with a scene showing the hero climbing over a courtyard wall to profess his love to the young woman. The tip of the horn bears a battle scene in which the hero saves his lover and her mother from rebel attack.

Rhinoceros-horn Cup with Carved Flowers and Butterflies
End of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
Height: 12.8cm. Mouth diameter: 16.2-9.2cm. Foot diameter: 5.4-4.2cm.

Rhinoceros-horn Cup with Carved Flowers and Butterflies

The cup with a wide opening, curved slender body and contracting base looks very elegant. The whole outside surface is carved with chrysanthemum, orchid, plum and camellia flowers. The flowers and leaves are relieved by ornamental rocks. Chrysanthemum leaves growing out crevices in the rocks entwine to form the handle of the cup. Some of the chrysanthemum flowers and leaves extend into the cup. A butterfly flies among the flowers, and another is perched on an orchid leaf. As the inside of the cup is carved in the texture of rocks, the decorations inside and outside the cup form an entity.

The cup is decorated with carvings in high relief, engravings and cuttings in intaglio, which cover the entire cup. The images are vivid and lifelike.

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