在早期东亚文化背景中，玉的重要性甚至超越金银，其高贵的地位可与当今的钻石相媲美。除货币价值外，玉还和青铜一并成为理解传统中国审美标准和身份等级的关键参考。玉和青铜的潜力不断被中国古代工匠开发，不仅用于制作实用器，更为重要的是，自新石器时代起，它们的仪式功用就备受重视，而且这两种材质持续不断地激发出工匠们的创造灵感。
In early East Asian cultural contexts, jade seems to have been esteemed more highly than gold or silver, reaching an equivalent status to that of diamond in modern times. In addition to its monetary value, this gemstone, together with bronze, became one of the important hierarchical parameters for the understanding of traditional Chinese aesthetical consciousness. The potential of jade and bronze was exploited by Chinese artisans for utilitarian purposes and, more importantly, for ritual use as early as he Neolithic period, and the two media continued to elicit inspiration throughout the ages.
玉壶 伊朗/中亚 约公元1420~1449年
葡萄牙里斯本卡洛斯提·古尔班基安基金藏
（图采自《美成在久》第11期，p68，图4）
帖木儿欧亚大陆上一组重要的玉器是带龙头手柄的壶或杯。其中的一件杰作，现收藏于里斯本卡洛斯提·古尔班基安基金，不仅知名于作为乌鲁贝格高品位玉器艺术赞助的明证，而且在于其莹润洁白，完美无瑕的纯净感，及颈部记刻的赞助者姓名和头衔。
An important group of jade objects from Timurid Eurasia takes the shape of a jug or tankard with a dragon-head handle. One of the masterpieces of this type, now in the calouste Gulbenian Foundation in Lisbon, is notable not only as another testimony to Ulugh Beg’s highly selective patronage of the arts of jade but also because of the impeccable sense of purity generated by the translucent white nephrite and its distinctive bulbous form with a wide neck bearing the name and titles of the patron in monumental characters.
青花瓷壶 明代，公元15世纪
Stanley Herzman 捐赠
美国大都会艺术博物馆藏
（图采自《美成在久》第11期，p68，图5）
在十五世纪亚欧大陆上，也发现有大量与球状腹玉壶造型相同，材质迥异的器物。例如，与里斯本藏玉壶相似的一件明代青花瓷壶及帖木儿帝国的鎏银黄铜壶（其中一些此类器物还有半球状的盖子）。然而，在不同材质，相同造型的器物之间划分出层序——如试图找出原型，目前仍有难度。或可认为这种特殊的造型是审美趣味相似的明朝和帖木儿帝国的工匠们相互交流的成果。
A similar cross-media proportional relationship can be traced in the extensive use of the globular body in decorative objects in jade and oher media from 15th century Eurasia. Closely related to the Lisbon jade tankard are, for instance, a blue-and –white porcelain jug from Ming China and a metal jug from Timurid Eurasia (some of this type originally had domed lids). While it remains difficult to set a hierarchical order among these objects worked in three different media – for example, when attempting to determine which of these objects represents a prototype – it is possible to argue that this particular shape was exchanged in a reciprocate manner between Chinese and Timurid artisans who shared the common taste of the time.
黄铜鎏银壶
英国维多利亚-艾尔伯特博物馆藏
（图采自《美成在久》第11期，p68，图6）
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