Petite cloche rituelle en bronze, nao Fin des Shang / début de la dynastie des Zhou Occidentaux

avec deux petites cloches miniatures en bronze, ling, de la dynastie Shang

The pair of miniature bells, ling:
Reputedly excavated at Anyang.
Formerly in the collection of Liang Shangchun, Beijing.

Liang Shangchun, Yanku jijin tulu, vol. II, Beijing, 1944, no. 66.
Rong Geng, Shang Zhou yiqi tongkao, Harvard, 1941, no. 940.
Willem van Heusden, Ancient Chinese Bronzes of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. An illustrated Catalogue of the Van Heusden Collection with a Historical Introduction by Willem van Heusden, Tokyo, 1952, pls. XXXI and XXXII.

The ritual bell, nao, is in overall good condition. It bears a single pictogramm on one side of the handle. The patina of greyish-green tone with some light green areas and patches of green encrustation and some small areas of azurite, particularly on one side of the bell. The two miniature bronze bells, ling, are in overall good condition with the exception of a small, ca. 0.3cm wide chip to the rim of one bell. Each bell cast with two pictogramms on each side.
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