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Large Nao with Elephant Pattern (Bronze nao with elephant pattern)

Well preserved. The colour of the instrument is earthy brown, and the whole body is covered in patina. It has a tubular rod named yong (handle) with a raised collar called xuan. The underside (wu) is flat and the xian is pointing inwards slightly. The instrument has a wide body. The mouth (yu) is curved. The shape and structure of this instrument are similar to the large nao with tiger pattern described above, but there are differences in the decorative patterns. Animal-mask motif formed by thick and thin lines is the main design. There are 6 fish and 6 dragons patterns and 11 conical studs decorating the left, right and bottom edges of each side of the body. The front features an animal-mask with a bullhead-shaped nose bridge. The two sides are decorated with more realistic looking elephant patterns and upside down Kui dragon patterns. The back of the bell has the same patterns as the front. The xuan on the yong is decorated with 8 C-shaped patterns. The whole body is covered with cloud patterns. The thick lines that formed the main animal-mask also feature cloud patterns. This animal-mask on the gu of the nao is very similar to the one on the vase with animal-mask motif in Princeton University Art Museum in the US. The central panel (zheng) is surrounded by decorative tigers and fish that are commonly seen in Shang dynasty bronze ware. The nao bell has a heavy body with complicated decorative patterns and three-layer designs. It is in the style of Yinxu II bronze ware, so it should date from towards the end of the late Shang dynasty.

  • Culture:
  • Period:
  • Materials:Bronze
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  • Inscriptions:
  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:111.242.11 (Individual) resting bells
  • Repository:Hunan Museum
  • Measurements:Total height (broken): 70.0cm, length of the yong (broken): 26.0cm, diameter of the yong: 9.3-11.63cm, horizontal diameter of the wu: 37.6cm, vertical diameter of the wu: 25.6cm, distance between the two xian points: 46.2cm, distance between the two sides of the centre of the gu: 35.5cm, length of the xian: 44.5cm, mid-body length: 40.0cm, thickness of the middle of the gu: 2.6cm, weight: 67.3kg