Li tripod, late Shang dynasty, 13th-12th century BCE. Earthenware with cord marking, 9.53 x 13.34 x 13.34 cm (diameter at mouth). The William Hood Dunwoody Fund, 32.54.11 © Minneapolis Institute of Art 

Hand-built from common clay, this straightforward utilitarian cord marked tripod, like its Neolithic predecessors, was designed to expose a large surface to the cooking fire. At this early point in time, bronze ceremonial vessels were being influenced by Neolithic ceramic shapes such as this one. The situation would soon reverse itself, however, and by the late Bronze Age a majority of ceremonial ceramics were made in imitation of more expensive bronze vessels.