A RARE SET OF THREE SMALL BRONZE BELLS, NAO

Nao first appeared in north China in the late Shang period and continued to be made into the early Zhou dynasty. They were usually made in graduated sets of three, and were probably held upright on stands so that they could be struck from the exterior. It is rare to find an original set of nao of graduated sizes and matching inscriptions. A set of three nao bells with similar taotie decoration in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 1998, pp. 480-83, no. 82. A set of three bells with horned masks from the Western Sector of Yinxu is illustrated in Kaogu xuebao, 1979, no. 1, p. 74, fig. 71 and pl. 14 (1). A set of five bearing Ya Bi clan signs found in the Fu Hao tomb in Anyang is illustrated in Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang, Beijing, 1980, pl. LXII (1), which is the only known set of five nao.