Carved from a single piece of Nephrite, parts contain a brown matte coloration with several naturally formed tress lines. The entire piece is made in the shape of a libation cup with a slightly curved body, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The inside wall of the cup has been polished to a fine finish whilst the outer wall is decorated with intricate patterns which are set out, from top to bottom, as follows. Near the lip are two consecutive lightning patterns and under these are a two tumbleweeds. On the midsection walls, two protruding lines serve as to separate a section of broad strap patterns. The insides of the broad strap patterns are decorated with wispy cloud patterns using embossing. The bottom of the mid-inner wall is given a lively fresh cloud image. Near the bottom of the cone is embossed a fire cloud decoration. On one wall of the libation cup there is an embossing of a dragon clinging to the side. On the other side, created with an openwork sculpting technique, another dragon clings to the wall with its head turned. Requiring a large amount of material and craftsmanship, the carving is classically elegant. It is a fine piece Ming Dynasty work imitating the Han Dynasty style jade libation cups.

H: 17 cm