Ceremonial wine vessel (pou) with buffalo heads

An almost abstract pattern of large feathered dragons and birds with prominent “eyes” covers the surface of this finely cast early wine pot.Three buffalo heads, realistically depicted with large horns, sit on the vessel’s shoulder. In the ceremonies to honor the spirits of the ancestors in which this magnificent vessel was used, millet wine (grape wine was unknown in China until the middle of the first millennium) was ladled into bronze drinking vessels using a bronze dipper.

Credit: Purchase, Dr. William W. Stein Acquisition Fund