This small gilt bronze stem cup is virtually identical to a gilt silver example from the cache burial of silver and gold vessels found at Hejiacun [linkage to an article] in Chang’an (modern Xi’an, Shaanxi province), within the Tang walled capital district. This cup is cast, not hammered, and its base metal is bronze, not silver, which made it less expensive to produce. The decoration on the surface was not cast but chased after the cup was removed from its mold. This method of decoration, commonly practiced by silversmiths in the West, was not a traditional technique used in Chinese foundries.