LATE WARRING STATES PERIOD - EARLY WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, CIRCA 300-141 BC

Practical ear cups from this period were mostly made of lacquer or pottery, while jade ear cups are extremely rare. The present ear cup is made of Khotan white jade of the highest quality, characterised by its superb whiteness, evenness in tone, and remarkable translucency.

Only a handful other Han dynasty jade ear cups are known, and none surpasses the present example in quality. Compare a white jade ear cup discovered in Ji'an County, Jilin Province, possibly a gift from the Han Empire to Goguryeo, illustrated in Gems of China's Cultural Relics, Beijing, 1990, no. 109 (fig. 1); a larger greenish-white jade ear cup in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (I), Hong Kong, 1995, no. 219 (fig. 2); and a celadon jade example in the Xuzhou Museum.