Loop Suspension Bell (Niuzhong) (Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period (770–481 B.C.), 8th/6th century B.C.): Artwork and History

Loop Suspension Bell (Niuzhong) (Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period (770–481 B.C.), 8th/6th century B.C.) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as China.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Several types of chime bells were cast toward the end of China's Bronze Age and were probably played together in concert. Smallest among these were niuzhong, which had concave rims. Niuzhong were cast in graduated sizes, assembled as a set (often of nine), and suspended from a horizontal beam in order of size. Each bell was designed to emit two distinct tones: one from striking the center of the lower panel, another from striking either corner. The mask centered on the striking panel of this bell is an abstraction of ferocious monster designs seen on earlier bronze vessels.

Object facts

• Title: Loop Suspension Bell (Niuzhong)
• Date: Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period (770–481 B.C.), 8th/6th century B.C.
• Artist attribution: China
• Place of origin: China
• Medium: Bronze
• Dimensions: 34.8 × 19.9 cm (13 3/4 × 7 13/16 in.)
• Type: Metalwork
• Department: Arts of Asia
• Reference number: 1923.1113

Collection credit

Samuel M. Nickerson Endowment

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.