An Exceptional and Rare Renaissance Silver Gilt Mounted Rhinoceros Horn Cup
An Exceptional and Rare Renaissance Silver Gilt Mounted Rhinoceros Horn Cup
Period 1500-1700
Medium silver, Rhinoceros Horn, Silver gilt, Gilt
Dimension 14.5 x 10 x 6.5 cm (5³/₄ x 4⁰/₁ x 2¹/₂ inches)
Rhinoceros horn, silver, gilt
German / China
Late 16th Century to Early 17th Century / 1580 - 1620
cf: old collectors number: SIL/2046A/A
Period: 1500-1700
Medium: silver, Rhinoceros Horn, Silver gilt, Gilt
Dimension: 14.5 x 10 x 6.5 cm (5³/₄ x 4⁰/₁ x 2¹/₂ inches)
Provenance: Ex Private collection
Literature: note: the Chinese Rhinoceros horn libation cup was an early exotic and luxurious import to the West / Europe, and regarded to be both highly valuable and protective to the owner, hence finding its way into a Royal Court of Europe where their silver and goldsmiths embellished the cup, in this case with a finely detailed silver-gilt support, for inclusion into the Court’s ‘kunstkammer’ to be marvelled and appreciated for its artistic importance, but on occasion also to be drunk from, as the rhinoceros horn would render any ‘poisonous’ liquid safe for the Princely patron to consume !
Finch & Co
Antiquities, ethnographica, natural history, sculpture and works of art
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