This rhinoceros horn cup was likely made in South China, with itssilver filigree mounts probably added by Chinese craftsmen in theSpanish-ruled Philippines in the first decades of the seventeenthcentury.The rhinoceros horn—probably a posterior horn of aSumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)—was carved ona lathe in the shape of a perfectly round cup and, following localChinese metal and ceramic prototypes, may originally have hadan integral foot ring on the underside. Following a contemporaryEuropean model of a stem cup or chalice, a stem with its knop andcircular base, as well as a scalloped rim in silver filigree, was addedto the rhinoceros horn cup. The filigree decoration consists of a thicksquare-section wire for the frame, filled with flattened twisted wireforming O-shaped curls typical of contemporary Chinese filigreeobjects and jewellery, and also of those made in the Philippinesby craftsmen of Chinese or mestizo origin.1Objects similar to this cup have in the past been wronglyidentified as Goan in manufacture. Although applied filigree in goldjewellery is documented in India in ancient times, only towardsthe eighteenth century did silver ajourée filigree objects emerge asan Indian art in Karimnagar in the present-day state of AndhraPradesh, and later in Cuttack, in Odisha. When the Portugueseventured into Asia in the early sixteenth century, the most prolificcentres of filigree production were located in Safavid Iran, China,the Philippines, and Indonesia. Recent research has dismissed aGoan origin for the silver and gold filigree objects made in Asiafor export to the European market. Archival research and in-depthanalysis of surviving objects have proposed new identifications,although not always in agreement.In China, rhinoceros horn cups were prized collector’s items,often gifted to successful scholars. Their carving, particularly in workshops in southern cities such as Guangzhou, flourished fromthe late Ming to the early Qing dynasties, that is, from the latesixteenth century to the eighteenth century.2 Worked in Chinafrom the Tang dynasty (618–907) onwards—possibly as sacrificialvessels—and treasured in Asia since Antiquity for their antidotalqualities and supposed magical powers, rhinoceros horn cupswere highly sought after in late Renaissance Europe. Archivalresearch shows that such cups, along with whole horns importedin bulk, were avidly collected at the Lisbon court in the sixteenthand seventeenth centuries.3 The use of a prized material such asrhinoceros horn for the manufacture of this stem cup, possiblymade to serve as a chalice for Communion, may have stemmed notonly from the material’s price and status as a luxury commodity,but also from its longstanding supernatural virtues, which wouldbe known to the recently-converted Filipino population underSpanish influence.
HMC
1 On silver filigree made for export in The Philippines, see Crespo, Hugo Miguel, Choices, Lisboa, AR-PAB, 2016, cat. 32, pp. 366–381. On gold filigree also made in The Philippines, fromdated archaeological shipwrecks, see Chadour, A. Beatriz, ‘The gold jewelry from the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción’, in Mathers, William M., Parker, Henry S., Copus, Kathleen(eds.), Archaeological Report. The Recovery of the Manila Galleon Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion, Sutton, Pacific Sea Resources, 1990, pp. 133–395.
2 On this production, see Chapman, Jan, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, Christie’s Books, 1999.
3 Crespo, Hugo Miguel (ed.), At The Prince’s Table. Dining at the Lisbon Court (1500–1700). Silver, Mother-of-pearl, Rock Crystal and Porcelain, Lisbon, AR-PAB, 2018, pp. 232–237, cat. 30.