A RHINOCEROS HORN 'LOTUS' LIBATION CUP QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

the cup in the form of a deep widely flaring lotus leaf, the dark reddish-brown horn naturalistically carved around the exterior with lotus buds and flowers borne on leafy tendrils curling up and around the body, forming to one side a large handle and ribbon-tied to the base to form a short foot on which stand two large cranes, the interior carved with a small frog looking up to the rim  

The fashion for very dark almost black rhinoceros horn carvings emerged in the 18th century and the present cup is a fine example of this trend. According to Jan Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 62, especially larger-sized rhinoceros horn cups were stained, generally using pine soot and squid ink as black dyes to achieve a rich matt black colour.  

The decoration of cranes was a popular one amongst horn carvers, see a cup in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, carved with a pair of cranes against rocks, illustrated ibid., pl. 253; and another vessel from the collection of Dr. Ip Yee, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th November 1984, lot 94.