Nice Chinese Brass - Page 2

Very cool item. Where/how did you get it?



The picture is worth a thousand words. Mike.

Originally Posted by hobo finds

How much weight to it? Looks like you could hang it on a wall and put flowers in it.

That's kinda what I was wondering if it might have come from a cemetery?? OHHHHhhhh

You know, right beside the urn,,

If what you have is original it would be a Chinese bronze artifact from the Zhou dynasty. It is called a zhong and it was made to be used as a bell (you are actually holding it upside down). Ancient chinese bells (either zhongs or naos) did not have clappers in them - instead they were designed to resonate when they were struck with a T-shaped mallet.

There is of course several ways to tell if the bell you are holding is original (and bare in mind if it is original it will be between 2,000 and 3,500 years old). The easiest way to tell is to suspend the bell and strike it with a wooden mallet in the centre. It should make a lovely sound. The real magic is that if you strike the bell on the side it should then make a second, different note, as all genuine zhongs were bells that made two notes.

If I had to guess from the picture however, I would suggest that this bell is a much later copy. Original zhongs are beautifully and intricately carved on the inside of the bell with extremely fine patterning, which it doesn't look like this bell has.

It's well worth getting checked out though, as my knowledge of such things is quite basic.

wow, Wayne, that's very impressive!

Ahh, that's o.k. Hoss. I wasn't looking to argue with ya. I just didn't see how his question coulda been answered up until he showed the picture. Looks like wayne gave him a great answer there. I gotta agree with ya, it did turn out pretty cool.

Here's how to make money with it.
1.) Buy a mini storage place in California.
2.) Put it in one of the units in plain sight.
3.).Get Storage Wars to film on your property.
4.) Let Dave and Jarrod get into a bidding war over it.

YUUUUP!