Bronze Cauldron with Snake Pattern

Though unearthed in Bajiadun Western-Han Tomb of Ganquan village, Hanjiang district of Yangzhou city in 1991, this bronze cauldron is typical of bronzeware of the Warring-states period (475-221 BC), with its flat opening rim, short neck, wide shoulders, flat round belly, together with its snake-shaped decorative motifs. Moreover, its short spout in the shape of a phoenix with a slightly opening beak is a far cry from the bird-shaped ones with a movable upper mandible that were popular during the Western Han dynasty (202 BC-8 AD). Rather, it is in conformity with the style of spouts with a fixed opening on bronzeware of the Spring & Autumn and Warring States period (770-221 BC), a testimony to the exact period when it was crafted.