Bo with Bird Design (Bronze bo bell)

Well preserved. The bird designs on the raised edges (feileng) of either side of the bell are lost. Only the T-shaped and hook-shaped decorations remain. Made of bronze, with light green colour on the surface. Due to being excavated objects, these instruments are covered in mud and patina. The bell has a slim body with an oval cross-section. Its bottom rim (yu) is flat. The upper surface (wu) is flat and has a ring-shaped loop (niu). There is a small hole which is not round in shape in the middle of the wu. The body of the bell is decorated with 4 studs on the top and 6 studs on the bottom. The studs are connected by double lines, with short lines extending upwards and downwards. It is quite rare to see this kind of design. The middle of the gu bulges slightly, which is not often seen. There are small birds, T-shapes and hook patterns decorating the raised edges (feileng) in the middle of the central panel (zheng). When the bell was made, the loop (niu) was cast first and was then connected to the bell’s upper surface (wu) when casting the body of the instrument. The body is quite light and thin with simplified decorative patterns on it.