China
Chinese

Bronze
Eastern Zhou dynasty, (475-221 B.C.E.)
Height: 4.6 in, Width (bottom): 2 in, Depth (bottom): 1.5 in
Idiophones – Struck Directly – Bells

This is a Chinese clapperless bell (zhong) possibly from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (475-221 B.C.E.).  It is found in sets of graduated chimes known as bianzhong. They are struck externally with large T-shaped mallets.  At the top is an elongated handle or shank (yong) extending up from the crown, with a small attached ring at its base where the bell is suspended at an oblique angle. 

The bell (zhong) has a leaf-shaped cross-section with a slightly expanding profile (narrow trapezoidal) from the crown outward.  The mouth of the bell is concave, with pointed corners left and right.  This shape allows for the ability to produce two different pitches.  The main pitch is sounded when struck just above the rim, and a higher secondary pitch is sounded when struck near the lower left or right corner.  As a set of graduated chimes (bianzhong), they were tuned at an interval, most commonly a minor 3^rd apart.  Fine tuning would require the scraping or filing of the walls inside the bell.  

Resource: “Zhong,” Allan R. Thrasher; “The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments,” 2^nd edition; Laurence Libin Editor in Chief.