A RHINO horn cup, sold for more than £60,000 at Duke’s auctioneers in Dorchester.
The cup is 5” wide and 2.75” high and made from fine rhinoceros horn. It was the top price of the day at the auctioneer’s sale of Oriental Ceramics and Works of Art.
It was spotted by one of Duke’s valuers at the back of a display cabinet in a Somerset manor house earlier this year.
Guy Schwinge, a partner at Duke’s, said: “The owners had no idea it was so rare and so valuable.
“The Chinese have been carving horn into precious objects since the seventh century and though many horn items were brought into Britain in the 18th centuries, not many still exist.”
Despite several chips to the carving, the cup sold for £62,000 to a bidder in the room.
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