Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Bell
(China )
From around 2000 BCE onward, bronze bells have been an essential component of musical instrument ensembles in China. This bronze bell was cast during the reign of the Huizong emperor (1100–26). Huizong sought to bring ritual court music into accordance with ancient standards. New sets of bells, like this example, were thus cast and modeled after a newly excavated ancient set of bells. On this bell, the name of the pitch was engraved on one side and characters reading “Bureau of Music” (Yuefu) on the other. The Bureau of Music was established in the 1st century BCE by the emperor of the time for the purposes of collecting music, overseeing court performances, hiring musicians, and standardizing pitch.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Ferguson Sale, American Art Association, April 7, 1916; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1916, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
China (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 9 7/8 × W: 7 1/16 × D: 6 13/16 in. (25.1 × 17.9 × 17.3 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1916
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
54.2185