Lei, Wine Jar with Scroll Design, Bronze

The lei is a type of ceremonial vessel which holds ju-chang wine, a blend of Chinese black millet and turmeric leaves. These lei type vessels were produced between the late Shang and the Western Zhou dynasties. This piece is rather small in size, not even reaching half the normal height of such works. It may have been made as part of set of a small ritual vessels used for religious services during a journey, or it may have been made as a funerary vessel to be buried with the dead.