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This ritual water container is among the earliest bronze vessels decorated with snakes. In this example the serpent’s open jaws form the spout. Straps would have been threaded through the lugs on the shoulder and holes on the foot to hold the vessel.
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商 青銅盉
Title: Spouted water container (He)
Period: Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BCE)
Date: late 14th century BCE
Culture: China
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: H. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm); W. 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm)
Classification: Metalwork
Credit Line: Gift of Ernest Erickson Foundation, 1985
Object Number: 1985.214.1a, b
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