This elegant gold stem cup displays an intriguing blend of Chinese techniques and images with those from other traditions. The bell-shaped goblet, slender stem, and flaring foot derive from contemporary Chinese works, as does the lush, matlike surface composed of small rings in the background, as well as the use of a thin sheet of gold to line the interior. Pearl borders define the rim and foot, which is decorated with four small ibexes. The twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac (rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog, and boar), each placed in its own rectangle, decorate the upper edge.

Sinewy dragons with pronounced snouts, set in medallions created by intertwining grapevines, fill the body of the goblet. The prowling poses of the dragons reflect long-standing nomadic imagery. The entwined grapevines decorating the cup parallel metalwork from sites in northwestern China, such as Dulan in Qinghai Province, produced under Tibetan rule from the mid-seventh to the mid-ninth century. The design shows a keen understanding of Chinese aesthetics, and the liveliness and openness of the decoration suggest that this rare cup may represent an initial phase in the development of early Tibetan metalwork.