Cup shaped as rhinoceros horn

White glaze porcelain, referred to as blanc-de-chine in the West, was produced in the 17th and 18th centuries in workshops in the vicinity of a town called Dehua in the southern Chinese Fujian province. One of the highest-quality types of porcelain, it is highly valued for its refined nature, smooth surface and perfect modelling. It was often used to render figures of Buddhist or Daoist deities or even Christian saints commissioned by European clients. This smaller-scale work is modelled in an unusual shape of a rhinoceros horn, decorated with delicate reliefs of pine tree – a symbol of Chinese literati – and a fish – a symbol of affluence and prosperity.