Carved Ram's Horn Cup with Lions and Mounted Rider

Description The exterior of this piece is intricately carved in low relief with a figure of a mounted nobleman and heraldic lions among leaf rinceaux. The cup terminates in a carved bust. This intriguing drinking cup is installed in the chamber of Wonders with objects from Asia and Africa. Seventeenth-century collectors often could not be sure where objects obtained from sea captians and traders actually came from. We don't know where this piece was made. Do you?

Exhibitions

• World of Wonder. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1971-1972.

Provenance Henry Walters, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sadie Jones (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York, 1931, by inheritance; Mrs. Henry Walters Sale, New York, May 1, 1941, no. 1025; Walters Art Museum, 1941, by purchase.

Credit Museum purchase [formerly part of the Walters Collection], 1941