A Tibetan friend took out a khaki vegetarian cup from his bag. The shape of the cup looks inconspicuous, with a diameter of about 9.8 cm, a bottom diameter of 6 cm and a height of 6.2 cm, but the wall of the cup is very thick. The surface of the cup is slightly jade-like, with several black cracks, and a triangular area at the bottom of the cup is black.
"Good things," said Gao Guozhi, a treasure expert in Business Daily. This is a cup made of rhinoceros horn, which should be made by intercepting the middle part of rhinoceros horn. Because the rhinoceros horn is "solid in the front and virtual in the back", that is, the part near the tip of the horn is solid, and the position near the nose or forehead of the rhinoceros is empty, so the material is very suitable for making cups. Because the solid part near the tip of rhinoceros horn is dark in color, a triangular piece of black will appear at the bottom of rhinoceros horn cup.
It is estimated that anyone who has seen "the legendary swordsman" will remember the wonderful use of rhinoceros horn cups to hold wine. Zu Qian Qiu said that the wine outside Shanhaiguan tastes good, but unfortunately it lacks a faint scent. It's best to drink it in a rhinoceros horn cup. It should be noted that the jade cup enhances the color of the wine, and the rhinoceros horn cup enhances the fragrance of the wine. When the rhinoceros horn cup is used to hold water, the medicinal components in rhinoceros horn will also dissolve in water.
Although the rhinoceros horn cup is so "practical", this Tibetan friend has been reluctant to drink water with this rhinoceros horn cup. "This cup is just for fun. I have a small one, which is usually used for drinking water."
Expert review
Gao Guozhi (treasure expert of Henan Business Daily, gem appraiser of China Gemstone Association, judicial appraiser of Baoyu jewelry and art, former curator of geological museum, Henan Province)
Li (treasure expert of Business Daily, member of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Appraisal Expert Group)
This rhinoceros horn cup should be made of African rhinoceros horn. There are two kinds of rhinoceros horns: Asian rhinoceros and African rhinoceros. Judging from the current auction situation, the price of Asian rhino horn is about 8 times to 10 times that of African rhino horn. The price of African rhino horn is currently in 500 yuan per gram, which is more than twice the price of gold. Judging from the weight, the price of this rhinoceros horn cup is more than 654.38+10,000 yuan.
Collection risk
The international awareness of wildlife protection is gradually strengthening, so in recent years, many related laws have been promulgated one after another, and countries are deliberately reducing the prices of ivory products and rhinoceros horn products. So as a collection, we should consider the risk of this collection.
The lotus leaf rhinoceros horn cup is twice as heavy as the plain horn cup.
Last time I entered the baby's plain rhinoceros horn cup, now I have an "upgraded version". Last week, a Tibetan friend brought a rhinoceros horn cup, which was nearly1.200g, nearly twice as heavy as the vegetarian cup. The expert estimates that 400,000 yuan is three times higher than the latter.
Lotus leaf rhinoceros horn cup
Compared with the last rhinoceros horn cup, this lotus leaf rhinoceros horn cup can be called an "upgraded version".
Only in terms of volume and weight, it far exceeds the rhinoceros horn cup last week. The lotus horn cup has a diameter of more than 18cm at its widest point, a height of about 18cm, an oval bottom and a width of about 7cm at its widest point. The whole cup is nearly 1200g, which is nearly twice as heavy as the plain cup.
The cup body is a big lotus leaf, reddish brown, and smells the unique fragrance of rhinoceros horn. Veins inside and outside the lotus leaf are clearly visible, and the lotus leaf near the cup mouth is slightly curled. The outer wall of the cup is surrounded by lotus plants and hibiscus flowers are swaying in the wind. A big crab is lying on the lotus leaf, waving its claws vividly and lovely.
Although the color of this rhinoceros horn cup is slightly different from that of the ordinary rhinoceros horn cup, experts say that this rhinoceros horn cup is also made of African rhinoceros horn. China imported rhinoceros horn from Han Dynasty, and the precious rhinoceros horn was mostly used to make cups in Song Dynasty.
■ Expert comments
Gao Deliang (treasure expert of Henan Business Daily, senior economist, jewelry art appraiser, jewelry judicial appraiser)
During the Three Kingdoms period, Zheng Gongjun of Wei was enjoying the cool near Jinan. He sat by the lotus pond, picked a lotus leaf and rolled it into a cup. He tasted lotus leaf-scented wine and was in a special mood, so there is a saying that "wine tastes lotus, and fragrance is better than water cooling". Such allusions eventually became the creative source for artisans to design wine glasses, such as lotus leaf rhinoceros horn cups.
The whole cup is carved with rhinoceros horn and decorated with lotus leaves. The veins of the lotus leaf are clearly visible, and the lotus leaf edge of the cup mouth is slightly curled, which is in harmony with the outer wall of the cup and carved into a small lotus pond. The sculptor has a unique design. The complicated ornamentation is just the opposite of the unpretentious style of the simple rhinoceros horn cup last week.
If the plain rhinoceros horn cup is just like the one held by Zu in Jin Yong's "the legendary swordsman", which is filled with strong spirits, then this lotus leaf cup with complex ornamentation must be a gathering of literati and wild cranes, which is quite different from Zu.