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Bianzhong with Panchi Motifs (7 pieces) (Bronze bell)

Preserved in good condition. Made of Bronze, with dark brown and green colours on the surface, which has mud and patina on it. These 7 bells all have similar shapes and structures, so these are likely to be a set. The body of each bell is shaped like a combined pair of tiles. The mouth (yu) is curved. The two xian points are pointing inwards. The upper surface (wu) is flat and has a ring-shaped suspension loop (niu), which is decorated with comb patterns. There is a small square hole in the centre of the upper surface (wu), which is decorated with 4 phoenixes. The design on the body of each bell features wide plain strips as frames, which are filled with panchi patterns [in legend, panchi is a curled dragon without a horn] in low relief. Unlike other bells with a ring-shaped suspension loop, the designs of these bells do not have studs or the areas (zhuan) between the studs. These bells mainly feature plain designs with the exception that bells No. 2, No. 4 and No. 7 have ring patterns decorating the centre of their gu.

  • Measurements:Total height: 21.6cm, height of the niu: 4.0cm, width of the top of the niu: 2.5cm, width of the bottom of the niu: 3.5cm, horizontal diameter of the wu: 9.8cm, vertical diameter of the wu: 7.3cm, mid-body length: 14.0cm, length of the xian: 16.9cm, distance between the two xian points: 12.4cm, distance between the two sides of the centre of the gu: 10.1cm, thickness of the middle of the gu: 0.6cm, thickness of the sides of the gu: 1.1cm, weight: 1.10kg