CHINESE MIRROR WITH RHINO
The back of this Chinese mirror was inlaid with mother-of-pearl, amber and tortise shell. Notice that it shows a rhinoceros. Found along the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers in antiquity, rhinos were hunted for their horns which were used in medicine and as an aphrodisiac.
-- Why would people want medicines and aphrodisiacs?
-- Do you think that people would be more willing to use mundane, everyday medicines or would they want exotic medicines with fantastic stories attached?
--Do you think that Rhino Horn was something of a luxury item in trade?
Source: Shoso-in Homotsu, Nara in The March of Islam (Time Life Books, 1987): 166.