Title
A bronze bixie-form water dropper
Year/Period
Eastern Han dynasty (AD 24–220)
Region
China
Object Type
Material
Technique
Dimension
Object size: 10.1 x 11.2 x 10.5 cm
Accession No.
2015-00497
Collection of
This bronze water dropper in the shape of a mythical feline called a bixie is part of a calligraphers set of tools. The small cylinder on the back might have been used to taper brush ends or to hold water.The bixie was first depicted in northern China during the Spring and Autumn period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–446 BC), and was derived from Central Asian felines. The water dropper is one of the earliest of Chinese scholarly objects.
