Painted Lacquer Ear Cup with Bird Pattern
The Painted Lacquer Ear Cup with Bird Pattern, unearthed from a tomb in Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, is a lacquered wine vessel dating back to the Western Han Dynasty.
It features an oval mouth, a shallow belly with an arced wall, and two crescent-shaped ears upturned on both sides. Made of wood, the cup is painted black on the outside and red inside. At the center of the inside bottom is a small bird with a long tail, whose body, feet, and tail were drawn with black lines. Its body and wings are yellow-green. There are red-lacquered swirl patterns on the front and sides of the cup's ears.
As early as 8,000 years ago, Chinese ancestors used lacquer as a coating material.
In the Han Dynasty, when bronzeware gradually declined and porcelain had yet to gain popularity, lacquerware welcomed its heyday as both production techniques and artistic representation reached full maturity.
Based on the large quantity of unearthed relics from the Han Dynasty, researchers agree that lacquerware was widely used in everyday life at that time.
As traditional wine vessels in ancient China, ear cups, also known as yushang (drinking vessels), originated in the Spring and Autumn-Warring States Period.
Given that they are thin and light, ear cups with wine were floated down a running stream, a game popular among ancient literati when they drank while composing poems.
This ear cup features a simple and streamlined shape as well as vivid and exquisite decorative patterns, demonstrating the typical style of the decorative patterns of Western Han lacquerware. It is considered an exemplary artifact integrating aesthetics with practicality.
彩绘漆鸟纹耳杯
彩绘漆鸟纹耳杯是一件西汉时期的漆制酒杯，出土于湖北省荆州市的西汉墓。它杯口椭圆，浅腹弧壁，两侧杯耳呈新月形，耳面上翘。杯为木胎，漆色外黑内红。内底正中绘有一只翘起长尾的小鸟，鸟的轮廓、足、尾由黑线勾勒，鸟身与翅膀为黄绿色。杯耳正面及侧面用红漆绘有涡纹。
早在8000年前，中国先民就已将漆作为涂料应用。汉代，青铜器逐渐衰落，瓷器还未广受推崇，漆器步入鼎盛时期，制作工艺与艺术水平都获得极大提升。从大量汉代出土文物来看，漆器被广泛应用于生活。
耳杯又称“羽觞”，出现于春秋战国时期，是中国传统的饮酒器具。因器薄轻便，耳杯还被盛酒后放入流水，作为古代文人饮酒赋诗的一种游戏器具。
此耳杯造型简洁流畅，图案生动写实，笔触精细，显现出西汉漆器装饰纹样的典型特征，是实用与美观结合的典范。
