  In this article we establish sharp $C^{1,\alpha}$ estimates for weak
solutions of singular and degenerate quasilinear elliptic equation $$-\,div\,
a(x, \nabla u) = f,$$
  which includes the standard $p$-laplacean equation with varying coefficients
as a special case. The sharp exponent $\alpha$ is asymptotically optimal and is
determined by the H\"older regularity of the coefficients, the exponent $p$ and
the $q$-integrability of the source term $f$.
