thinly worked in the form of half a gourd with five elegantly curved, raised ribs, simulating the gourd’s lobes. The short, spreading foot is shaped as a pointed oval and worked with acanthus leaves to the base. The handle is also worked in the form of acanthus. The highly polished stone is a fine greenish-white tone with some clouding and faint russet markings.

For a similar, slightly larger vessel, see Catalogue of a Special Exhibition of Hindustan Jade in the National Palace Museum, pl. 23, pp. 170–1; and see also pl. 24, pp. 172–3, for an example inscribed with a poem and dated 1773. Further examples are illustrated in Jadeware (III): The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, no. 233, p. 281; and in Keverne, Jade, fig. 22, p. 286. All the above cups relate, of course, to the famous Shah Jahan cup, dated 1657, and now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.