Cup with winged handles, one of a pair, 4th-3rd century BCE, 2 x 7 5/16 x 5 7/8 in. (5.08 x 18.57 x 14.92 cm), Red and dark brown lacquer on a wooden core, China, 4th-3rd century BCE, Shallow, elliptical cups of elongated form with paired rim handles (called 'ears') were popular during the Eastern Chou (770-221 b.c.) and Han dynasties (206 b.c.-220 a.d.). Lacquer 'ear cups' of this distinctive form with wing-shaped handles were produced only during the late Eastern Chou period in the state of Chu. The rims are decorated inside and out with a wide border of wing-and-scroll motifs in a repeating pattern in red on a dark brown ground. The top of the flared wing handles are decorated with detached scroll motifs with a running deer on one handle and the other handle a long-tailed bird. Similar vessels have been excavated from a tomb at Chiang-ling in Hubeh province and they are believed to have been used for drinking wine.