A RARE IMPERIAL GILT-BRONZE 'DRAGON' CHINESE RITUAL BELL, BIAN ZHONG
The bronze bell is finely cast, surmounted with a double-headed PuLao dragon handle flanked on the flat top. The main body decorated in relief of five-clawed dragons borne from turbulent cresting waves amongst fumes clouds and flames. There is a rectangular panel to each side with inscription.
Presented upon a carved hardwood base and arched frame.

Dimension: 10" H x 7-1/2" Diam. (Stand): 21" H x 12" W
LOT NOTES:
Bell is one of the Chinese characters that is easy to remember as ‘Zhong’ sounds rather like a bell. The modern form of the character is made up of the metal radical combined with ? Zhong as the phonetic for ‘middle’. Appropriately it also means ‘clock’ from the sounding of bells to mark the passage of the day.

Excellent condition, with normal anomalies in nature, sign of stressed surface, minor scratch & dent. Surface traced wear and or declined to gilding. Normal, considering ages and wears.

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