This pair of cups - a 'rhinoceros horn' and a 'magnolia blossom', is mounted with gilt bronze (ormolu) rim and handle. The cups form are indicative of the tapering rhinoceros horn and the magnolia plant. The gildt bronze features were probably added by European metalworkers at a later date, perhaps in the following century. The overhead handle suggests it was converted for use at the Western table perhaps as a sweetmeat dish or sugar bowl.The addition of metal mounts to Dehua porcelain such as these cups was a popular practice in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. The more elaborate the piece was with the mounts, the higher the value of the piece. European demand for ornate objects during the 17th and 18th centuries boosted the addition of mounts, evident on these cups. Furthermore, such mounts allowed handles to be attached to these cups (which were produced without handles) so as to suit Western habits and use.Dehua, located on the southeast coast of Fujian province, is well known for its production of white porcelain, known to Europeans as 'blanc de Chine'. The earliest Dehua porcelain was produced as early as the 14th century but the production and quality of these porcelain peaked around the 17th and 18th centuries.
