Warring States Crystal Cup

The Warring states crystal glass (戰國水晶杯 / 水晶杯) is a cup of a tumbler shape but carved from clear quartz (rock crystal) found in a Warring States period mausoleum tomb, dated to just before 221 BCE in the Qin dynasty.

The artifact is on the list of Chinese cultural relics forbidden to be exhibited abroad, a list of objects that can never leave Chinese soil.

[1] In 1990, the cup was unearthed in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province during an archaeological dig.

Specifically, it was found in Banshan town (半山鎮), Shitang village (石塘村) in a Warring states period mausoleum.

[2] Du Zhengxian (杜正賢) insisted on the archaeological digging even when other archaeologists had already labeled that area of the village a worthless wasteland.