Ladle, 11th century BCE, early Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–977 BCE). Bronze, 5.4 × 21.11 × 4.29 cm, 0.1 kg. Bequest of Alfred F. Pillsbury, 50.46.30 © Minneapolis Institute of Art

A ladle like this would have been part of an elaborate set of ritual wine vessels of the Western Zhou. It would have been used to spoon wine into smaller vessels such as a jue. The handle is divided into three sections: a taotie (composite animal) mask just behind the bowl; a band of lozenges with a plain, narrow central ridge midway along the handle; and a rather elaborate arrangement of dragons at the end of the handle. The animal forming the final curve of the spoon is a dragon; its body bends violently to the left before rising vertically, its leg and claw on the outside of the handle.