Model of a Yongzheng Bell

China

4th century BCE

Stoneware with appliqued and incised decor under a yellow-green glaze

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A stoneware bell with a flared mouth and a tall, narrow top, decorated with horizontal bands and raised circular elements. The surface features incised patterns and a yellow-green glaze. Among the more unusual ceramics recovered from the Warring States (480 to 221 BCE) tombs of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are ash-glazed stonewares made in imitation of ritual bronze vessels. Several excavations have yielded a variety of carefully crafted replicas of specific vessel and bell types that were used in prestigious burials as substitutes for far more expensive ceremonial bronzes. Yongzheng bells were typically made in graduated sets and, since the ownership of bronze bells was regulated, it may be that ceramic bells, like the bronze ones, were assigned to certain classes of burials. This vessel has a thin, yellowish-gre