This gold lobed cup has an unusual form, possessing six lobes and a crescent-shaped handle. As Adam T. Kessler has noted, Marco Polo records in his writings that "ladles with thumb-rests" were used in the halls of the Great Khan to scoop wine out of large bronze jars.¹ This cup may have served just such a function on a smaller scale.

The lobed design is believed to have entered China from the Near East, where Sassanian craftsmen manufactured lobed cups and bowls of silver. In China, the shape came to be associated with flower blossoms. The cup is decorated with multiple bands of honeysuckle and peony, running along the outer rim and covering both the handle and the vessel's interior; these designs help emphasize the association of the lobed shape with blooming flowers. In China such decoration is commonly carved into Chinese lacquer ware.

(1) Adam T. Kessler, Empires Beyond the Great Wall: The Heritage of Genghis Khan (Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 1993), p. 160.