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Ritual cup,Nepal - carved rhinoceros horn - cm. 8 x 11 x h. 2 - 18th century,
The small, particularly finely yoni-shaped cup has been made from a rhinoceros horn. Inside, flanked by two attendants, Garuda, the mythical bird, is depicted poised ready to take off and fly to earth. Garuda is resting on a lotus throne and enclosed in a large flaming halo. A lotus flower is depicted in the centre of the cup and framed in a round cartouche. The conch-shell, Vishnu’s main symbol, has been carved at the mouth of the vessel. The outside surface of the cup is engraved with the ten avatâras of Vishnu. They are all resting on lotus bases and standing on a pattern representing waves of water. The waves represented on the rim of the vessel refer to the ocean where Vishnu sleeps on the coils of the ferocious snake king, Ananta, ruler of eternity and of the underworld. Ananta vomits fire, destroying the universe at the end of every cosmic aeon according to the Vishnu-purâna, but protects the god in his sleep with the hoods of his heads. Among Vishnu’s avatâra, the snake’s heads reach up from a single body and spread out like an umbrella above Vishnu, ending on the inside of the cup.
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