A Dong Son bell

Dong Son period, ca 300 BCE-100 CE



Cast bronze with green patina and earth encrustations

H13 x W9cm

Made with the lost wax method of casting, the bells were found in Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam. The lost wax method was widely spread in Southeast Asia. The domed bell with a large upper suspension loop is adorned with triangle ornaments at the lower and upper edge, and with a fine coiled rope motif at the base and upper loop. The suspenion loop is embellished with a small coiled rope motif and spiral motif. The surface contains a nice malachite-green patina. Centuries of earthen deposit and oxidation had fused it to the inside of the bell. The Dong Son culture was named after a village in the north of Vietnam on the banks of the Ma river where a huge number of bronze and other objects were discovered in 1924. It emerged at the start of the 1st millennium BC and marked the height of the bronze civilization in this region. Centred on the Red River Valley of Vietnam, the Dong Son were sophisticated agriculturalists, raising rice and buffalos. The bronze age culture originated in Vietnam and developed in the other countries of Southeast Asia.



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