This beautiful Kuki brass drinking vessel from Manipur is a wonderful example of living tradition in ethnology, making it an object of art sensibility and functional concern among tribes. Brass gives a great value for its sturdiness and beauty along with its antimicrobial qualities used as a drinking vessel. This vessel is a spherical body that stores maximum content inside it and balances handling the vessel while using it. Usually either cylindrical or tubular in shape, these vessel handles are attached from the base of the vessel horizontally according to size. This design then enables the person to drink directly from the vessel without lifting it completely. A round opening is central to the body of the vessel and serves as its mouth to the source of liquid flow, thereby enabling contents to flow towards the point of consumption.

The most striking feature of the vessel is its beautifully engraved decorative designs on the outside surface. The traditional geometric or floral designs or tribal symbols applied on hand-engineered works speak of the culture of the Kuki tribe and the capabilities in metals. Along with the brass material, detailed craft work accentuates the age-long traditions of the tribe in metal arts. The vessel is used in serving rice beer (zu) or water. Beyond that, it is normally used during communal feasts or religious functions or when taking meals in daily life. Therefore, it is purely instrumental and a marker of tribal identity and heritage art. Such objects sometimes attain the status of ceremonial items, but they always denote what has to do with hospitality and communal traditionalism.