Cow Shaped Ritual Liquor Containers

This is a brass jar for rice wine used at a ritual of the drink offering to heaven. In the sacrificial rites at the Royal Ancestral Shrine, four types of jars, each shaped in a cow, elephant, and symbols of yin and yang were used.
As a cow being used as a large sacrifice and having aromatic oil, the cow was considered to be a good fit for spring. This cow-shaped jar was used in spring and summer rites. As for the shapes, two types, one for keeping rice wine in a lidded jar and the other for keeping rice wine in a separate jar placed on top of the animal’s body, have been passed down.