OC 016 · Ritual vessel (gu) · Asia

A tall bronze wine beaker

A tall, slender bronze beaker with a wide flaring mouth and a narrow waist
Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via The Met Open Access.
Number on this site
OC 016
What it is
Ritual vessel (gu)
Made
13th century BC
Period
Shang dynasty
Material
Bronze inlaid with black pigment
Size
26.4 cm high
Now held by
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Museum number
49.135.11

A beaker for wine, flaring out at the top, with its pattern picked out in black.1

Where it sits in human time

Made about 3,280 years ago. On this strip, each step to the right is ten times closer to today.

300,000 years ago10,0003,0001,000100nowA tall bronze wine beaker

Seen in

Filed under

Sources for this page

Every number on this page comes from one of these. How we check.

Last reviewed 12 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

  1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wine beaker (gu). Shang dynasty, 13th century BCE. Collection record 44774, Open Access (CC0). www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/44774Used for: A tall wine beaker, 26.4 cm high. Checked 12 November 2026.