Dimensions:Height: 24cm; diameter at mouth: 24.7cm

Origin: Unearthed from Han Tomb No.1 at Mawangdui, Changsha in 1972

This lacquer tripod is ellipsoid shaped, with a spherical cover. There are three orange-colored loop lugs on the cover, and the cover and the body are closed in a snap fastener fashion. The body is swelled and the bottom is rounded. There are two upright ears attached to the mouth of the body and the three legs are shaped like animal hooves. The outer surface of this tripod is coated with black lacquer while the inside surface with vermillion lacquer. Around the outer rim of the mouth is drawn a band of lozenge designs while the cover and the body are drawn with geometric cloud designs formed by vermillion and grayish green whirlpool patterns and joint-square patterns. The surface of each leg is painted with a beast mask design and the two ears with a cloud design. The bottom of the tripod bears two Chinese characters “二斗” (two dou) in red color, indicating the capacity of this vessel.