Lot Essay
Ancient Chinese bells, such as the present lot, were manufactured as chiming sets for ritual purposes. A similar nao, classified by R. Bagley as a later Southern production, is therefore attributable to the latest phase of this class of bells, which according to the author is 'roughly contemporary with the period from early to middle Western Zhou'. A similar example with an inscription is in the Gillian Sackler collection, no.V-406, illustrated by R. Bagley, ibid., no.M22, p.441.