Pilgrim Bottle

This clay flask mimics the shape of leather water vessels used by travelers throughout the world. In China, canteens made of animal skin were associated primarily with nomadic people—such as the ancestors of the Liao rulers—and with Buddhist pilgrims, who traveled long distances to visit holy sites. Many ceramic re-creations of leather flasks have been found in Liao tombs among the many items needed by the dynasty’s horse-riding elite for their journey into the afterlife.