Bronze ware from the Shang Dynasty, known as the 'Bronze Pavilion'

Bronze ware from the Shang Dynasty, known as the 'Bronze Pavilion'

This Chinese cultural relic is a wine vessel called "斝", produced in the 13th to 12th centuries BC. It is collected at the Minneapolis Museum of Art in the United States. 斝 is a ceremonial vessel used for ancestor worship, which is made of both pottery and copper. It can be quadrupedal or quadrupedal, with two cylindrical protrusions on the mouth edge, which may be used to hang the vessel above a heat source. Yan first appeared in the Neolithic Age (5000-2000 BC) and was very common in the Shang and early Western Zhou dynasties, but disappeared in the mid Western Zhou period.