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From the Neolithic period and early Bronze Age, ceremonial tools and weapons were created as symbols of power, yet their forms are based on efficient bronze objects, such as the hafted axe, dagger-axe, and chisel. Resembling a small spade, this ceremonial tool has a jade blade that is fitted into a shallow slot at the base of the bronze handle.

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In the Bronze Age, wine made from grain was warmed and served in long-legged vessels that could be placed directly over a low fire. Elaborately decorated bronze containers were used at ritual banquets to prepare and serve wine and food to honored ancestors. Smaller vessels, called jue and jiao, held individual servings of wine, while larger jia heated greater amounts.

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Real and imaginary animals are frequently integrated into the surface decoration of early Chinese bronzes. Naturalistic representations of living animals were typically produced in southern China, while in northern provinces mythical creatures were an important component of the vessel's form, as seen on these ewers (guang) for pouring grain wine.

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Fantastic combinations of animals visually unite the container and lid of this ewer. Without its lid, this early guang, created in the thirteenth century BCE, looks like a water bird. Its beaked head and long neck serve as the handle. Viewed from another angle, the bird's tail becomes the neck and chest of a tiger. Looking from the side, its wings and feet seem to join with the owl's head directly above. This surprisingly inventive combination of animal forms resulted in a unique yet functional object.

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Does the lid of this vessel show a Chinese dragon with a human face, or a person changing into a horned serpent? While it may seem cartoonish today, the haunting combination of the familiar and the supernatural might represent the mysteries of the spirit world, thus transforming a simple pear-shaped ewer (he) into an intriguing piece of sculpture.