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Nao with Dragon Pattern (Bronze bell with conical studs)

Preserved in good condition. One end of the yong is broken. Made of bronze. The colour of the surface is brown. Some mud and heavy patina are on the surface. The body of the bell is long and thin, and is shaped like a combined pair of tiles. The underside (wu) is flat and the two xian points are straight. The tubular rod named yong (handle), hollow in the middle, 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 body is trapezoid shaped when viewed from the front. The mouth (yu) is slightly curved and has inner lips. There are 36 conical studs located on the two sides of the body. The areas between the studs (zhuan) are decorated with thunder patterns and the xuan with cloud patterns. There are two small square holes located on the two sides of the wu. There are eyebrow-shaped lines decorating the two sides of the gu and the areas near the wu.

  • Culture:
  • Period:
  • Materials:Bronze
  • Specific materials/techniques:
  • Decorative elements:
  • Inscriptions:
  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:111.242.11 (Individual) resting bells
  • Repository:Hunan Museum
  • Measurements:Total height: 36.0cm, mid-body length: 23.0cm, horizontal diameter of the wu: 19.0cm, vertical diameter of the wu: 12.6cm, distance between the two xian points: 23.9cm, height of each stud: 1.4cm, length of the yong (broken): 11.6cm, diameter of the top of the yong: 6.4cm, distance between the two sides of the centre of the gu: 14.5cm, thickness of the middle of the gu: 1.1cm, weight: 11.9kg