Ceramic 'chunyu' bell
5th-4th century BCE
Description
Tall upright form with circular cross-section, with straight sides rising to rounded shoulders, surmounted by a flat platform top with neatly finished raised edge and thick loop handle of arched form at the center; the open base slightly flared; decorated on shoulders with a double band of twin scroll motifs impressed above an engraved single line border; gray stoneware body covered with a thin olive-green glaze unevenly applied and showing mottled reddish brown coloration in some exposed areas due to oxidation during firing. The form simulates a type of bronze bell known as chunyu, which were hollow, clapper-less, and struck to emit their sounds.
Dimensions
H. 36.2 x Diam. 21.5 cm (14 1/4 x 8 7/16 in.)
Provenance
[J.J. Lally & Co., New York, March 2001] sold; to Walter C. Sedgwick Foundation, Woodside, CA (2001-2006), partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2006.
Related Artworks
View MoreLight olive-green, strongly translucent nephrite
11th-8th century BCEChineseTranslucent greenish gray nephrite
11th-8th century BCEChineseOpaque yellowish stone, the surface of which is in part corroded
16th-11th century BCEChineseLight greenish gray translucent nephrite
8th-5th century BCEChineseBronze with greenish patina
6th-5th century BCEChineseCreamy buff stone with brown markings
4th-3rd millennium BCEChineseTranslucent, pale brownish yellow nephrite
5th-3rd century BCEChineseGreen nephrite; the incised designs probably modern
1st millennium BCE-1st millenium CEChineseLight olive-green and yellowish brown nephrite
3rd century BCEChineseTranslucent, light gray-green nephrite with fine black veins
11th-8th century BCEChineseDark brown stone
ChineseBone-colored, faintly translucent segment of a nephrite disk
11th-8th century BCEChinese