Bronze artifacts at the "World of the Orient" exhibition.

The Chinese developed a distinctive bronze composition for their wares. The more than three-thousand-year-old ceremonial wine vessel - the jia - dates from the period of greatest development of Chinese bronzeware during the Shang-In dynasty. Tripods, cups, goblets, bowls or jars were symbols of the power and wealth of the person who owned them. They were made and used according to the rituals associated with making offerings to the altar. Vessels, such as containers for food and drink, were used at ritual banquets. At such feasts the dead were 'reunited' with the living.

A frying pan-like vessel used as a type of iron comes from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). Hot coals were placed in a bowl with a wide collar. The caul was moved over a silk cloth stretched by two helpers, or over a cloth spread on the ground. This type of iron was still used in both China and Japan in the 19th century.