Period:Western Zhou dynasty Production date:1050BC-771BC (circa)
Materials:bronze
Technique:
Dimensions:Height: 45 centimetres Width: 27.30 centimetres (max)
Description:
Bronze bell of the type known as zhong. This bell consists of a tubular handle with a small loop with which it would have been mounted, and an elongated body with oval cross-section and concave opening at the bottom. The body is decorated with three horizontal rows of studs the surface between which is filled with low-relief borders of circles and scrolls.
IMG
![图片[1]-bell BM-1984-0528.1-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Western Zhou dynasty/Bronzes/mid_00170006_001.jpg)
![图片[2]-bell BM-1984-0528.1-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Western Zhou dynasty/Bronzes/mid_00760471_001.jpg)
Comments:Rawson 1987:Bells suspended from a small loop attached to a tubular handle are known as zhong; this bell is an early example of the type. Zhong were derived from a much earlier bell type, the nao, which were mounted the other way up. Both types were struck from the outside, giving two notes, one at the centre of the lip, the other at the corner.Nao were employed at Anyang in sets of graded size. They went out of use at metropolitan Shang and early Zhou centres but were greatly elaborated in the south. Many examples have been found in Hunan and Anhui provinces. On early nao large eyes derived from the taotie were surrounded by almost abstract meander patterns, either in intaglio lines or in relif ridges. A further type was decorated with pairs of eyes embedded in fine relief lines and dotted circles. These two nao were the ancestors of the present bell. On all bell types the taotie eyes were multiplied to make rows of projecting bosses.During the Western Zhou period the sides of southern nao were lengthened, and the bells hung the other way up from small loops, as here. At this stage the bells were reintroduced to the north, appearing first in the far west, as in the tomb of a Yu Bo buried at Shaanxi Baoji Rujiazhuang (Fig. 17). Such bells were embellished with small studs, enlarged from the small dots at the centres of circles on southern bells. In due course provincial decorative schemes were replaced by metropolitan decoration. The Xing bells display both types of ornament (Fig. 12d).
Materials:bronze
Technique:
Dimensions:Height: 45 centimetres Width: 27.30 centimetres (max)
Description:
Bronze bell of the type known as zhong. This bell consists of a tubular handle with a small loop with which it would have been mounted, and an elongated body with oval cross-section and concave opening at the bottom. The body is decorated with three horizontal rows of studs the surface between which is filled with low-relief borders of circles and scrolls.
IMG
Comments:Rawson 1987:Bells suspended from a small loop attached to a tubular handle are known as zhong; this bell is an early example of the type. Zhong were derived from a much earlier bell type, the nao, which were mounted the other way up. Both types were struck from the outside, giving two notes, one at the centre of the lip, the other at the corner.Nao were employed at Anyang in sets of graded size. They went out of use at metropolitan Shang and early Zhou centres but were greatly elaborated in the south. Many examples have been found in Hunan and Anhui provinces. On early nao large eyes derived from the taotie were surrounded by almost abstract meander patterns, either in intaglio lines or in relif ridges. A further type was decorated with pairs of eyes embedded in fine relief lines and dotted circles. These two nao were the ancestors of the present bell. On all bell types the taotie eyes were multiplied to make rows of projecting bosses.During the Western Zhou period the sides of southern nao were lengthened, and the bells hung the other way up from small loops, as here. At this stage the bells were reintroduced to the north, appearing first in the far west, as in the tomb of a Yu Bo buried at Shaanxi Baoji Rujiazhuang (Fig. 17). Such bells were embellished with small studs, enlarged from the small dots at the centres of circles on southern bells. In due course provincial decorative schemes were replaced by metropolitan decoration. The Xing bells display both types of ornament (Fig. 12d).
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