The Cold Warrior's Best Brain: what was the bowler used for that was mistaken by painters and archaeologists?

The bow-shaped vessel was used to assist the motorist in holding the reins.

In 1980, Mr. Lin Rushing published an article entitled "The Problem of the Bronze Bow-shaped Instrument," which, in the section entitled "The Use of the Bow-shaped Instrument," concluded that the bow-shaped instrument "was a hook for hanging the reins directly in front of the belt. But this new hypothesis, still to be verified by more archaeological discoveries in the future". Lin's cautious, modestly called his statement "hypothesis", but I think, this view is accurate.

Bowed ware was popular in the Central Plains during the late Shang Dynasty and early Western Zhou Dynasty. It has also been found in the Siberian region of Russia and in Mongolia. The Sackler Museum at BYU also has a taotie-patterned bronze tripod and a tube-and-axe bronze tomahawk in the same collection as this artifact.

From the excavation site and the characteristics of the artifacts, it may be the source of the artifacts used by ethnic minorities in the northern region. The exhibition of Yandi Bronzes at the Capital Museum categorizes the bow-shaped wares among the carapace wares.