Nao with Cloud Pattern (Bronze bell with conical studs)

Preserved in good condition. Made of bronze, with light green colour on the surface. The body of the bell is shaped like a combined pair of tiles. The body is trapezoid shaped when viewed from the front. It is long and thin with the length of the xian being longer than the distance between the two xian points. The underside (wu) is flat and the two xian points are straight. The tubular rod named yong (handle) is short, hollow in the middle and is connected to the body. The cross-section of the yong is round in shape. The yong has a raised collar (xuan), which does not have a lug (xuanchong) attached for hanging the bell. The mouth (yu) is slightly curved. There are 36 longer studs of two-tiered cone shape with flat tips. The body has a circle of round-dot patterns. At this point in history, the design of the areas (zhuan) between the studs has been completed. The zhuan are decorated with cloud patterns. The centre of the gu and the xuan are decorated with cloud patterns. The cloud patterns in the centre of the gu are smaller and incised whereas the ones on the xuan are raised above the background with bold, thick lines. There are 5 vertical strips decorating the central panel (zheng).