Cup with winged handles, one of a pair

Shallow, elliptical wine cups in bronze and earthenware were popular during the Eastern Zhou (771–256 BCE) and Han (206 BCE–220 CE) dynasties, but lacquer cups of this distinctive form with wing-shaped handles were produced only during the Warring States period in the state of Chu, in present-day Hubei and Hunan provinces. The rims are decorated inside and out with a wide border of wing-and-scroll motifs in a repeating pattern. The tops of the handles are decorated with detached scroll motifs, with a running deer on one handle and a long-tailed bird on the other.