The jia can either be a form of pottery or it can be bronze. It is a deep, cup-shaped vessel supported on three or four pointed, splayed legs. There is a vertical handle on the body and two small, capped, pillarlike additions on opposite sides of the circular rim. The function of these additions is uncertain, though possibly they served to suspend the vessel over a fire to heat the wine inside. The decoration on a jia is often simple, consisting usually of a taotie, or monster mask, on either side of the body.

The pottery jia first appeared in the Neolithic Period (c. 5000–2000 BC) and became more common during the Shang (18th–12th century BC) and early Zhou (c. 1111–900 BC) dynasties. However, the jia gradually disappeared during the Zhou period, probably replaced by other vessels such as the he or jian. Its disappearance was also due to the prohibition against excessive alcohol consumption at the time.