Irregularly Shaped Nao (Bronze bell with conical studs)

Generally well preserved. The mouth (yu) and the end of the handle (yong) are broken. Made of bronze. This is the only irregularly shaped nao that has ever been seen. The handle (yong) is hollow in the middle and is connected to the body of the bell. No traces of polishing are found inside the body. The yong is short and has a raised collar (xuan). The cross-section of the yong is round in shape. The body, thin and long, is shaped like a combined pair of tiles. The body is trapezoid shaped when viewed from the front. The mouth (yu) is curved larger than other bells. The underside (wu) is flat and the two xian points are straight. The main designs on the body are thunder patterns. Unlike the usual 18 studs on most nao bells, this bell has 20 studs on each side of its body. The way these studs are arranged is different: each side of the body of the bell has four rows. There are 3 studs on the top two rows and 2 studs on the bottom two rows. The areas (zheng) between the studs are decorated with double circle-dot or single circle-dot patterns. The underside (gu ) is narrow and small with a width of only 1.8-2.0cm, which is decorated with cloud patterns. The xuan is decorated with S-shaped patterns. There are also double circle-dot patterns above and below the xuan.