Flask (bianhu), Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period (475–221 BC). Bronze inlaid with copper, 36.3 × 34 × 11 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Lucy Maud Buckingham Collection, 1937.1.

This canteen-shaped container was probably modeled after leather flasks designed to be slung from the shoulder by cords. The bricklike pattern of inlaid copper may allude to this cord wrapping. A stamp carved with a pattern of feather-curls was repeatedly impressed into the clay mold to create this intricate surface decoration.