Yan steamer, 11th century BCE, T'Ien Nung, 15 × 9 9/16 × 9 3/16 in., lb. ( × × cm, kg), Bronze, China, 11th century BCE, The yan is a type of steamer, or cooking vessel, used chiefly for grain. It consists of a zeng, or deep upper bowl with a pierced bottom, which was placed upon or attached to a lower, legged vessel known as a li (in this example the two parts are cast into an inseparable unit). Water contained within the li would be boiled, steaming the food in the upper bowl. Yan first appeared during the late Shang dynasty (c. 1300–1046 BCE)

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