Minneapolis Institute of Art

Ceremonial Bell

Dong Son artist

Date

3rd-2nd century BCE

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Dong Son

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The attenuated form, repeated double-spiral decoration, and lines with sawtooth markings are motifs unique to Dong Son culture (400 BCE–200 CE), a pan-Southeast Asian civilization inhabiting regions of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Yunnan province in China, and Indonesia. In the first millennium BCE, Dong Son production of magnificent large bronzes increased. This bell was cast using the piece-mold process developed by neighboring Chinese bronze-founders. Perhaps influenced by Chinese customs, where cast bronze bells were buried with society elites, musical vessels are associated with Dong Son burial rituals and often found in tombs. Decorated bronzes were also used in trade.

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