Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami

Libation Cup

Artist/Maker Artist Unknown (Artist Unknown)

Date18th century

Mediumrhinoceros horn and wood

DimensionsOverall: 3 1/4 x 6 5/8 x 4 3/8 in. (8.3 x 16.8 x 11.1 cm)
Overall (On Stand): 6 1/4 × 6 5/8 × 4 3/8 in. (15.9 × 16.8 × 11.1 cm)

ClassificationsContainers

Credit LineGift of an Anonymous Donor through exchange

Terms

Object number92.0088

DescriptionThe landscape design on this cup is designed to take the viewer on a trip down a river. On the river we encounter two men in a boat surrounded by tall cliffs. A little further downstream we find a gentleman, perhaps a scholar, and his attendant near a tree on the shore. It appears they have come across the river from a small pavilion, possibly a scholar's studio, on the other bank. The handle of the cup is formed by the trunk of two trees, one a pine. The underside of the cup continues the motif on the sides with a narrow rock gorge from which the river seems to pour. A dragon is cleverly carved on the inside top of the cup, its head and tail emerging from opposite ends as if coming out of the clouds. The wooden base, possibly ebony, for the cup is composed of a layered series of lingzhi or fungus, which resembles the Chinese wish-granting stick. This cup and stand were probably made for the studio of a wealthy literati as rhino horn has always been an expensive commodity.

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