A Cambodian bronze ceremonial bell. Battambang province, first century B.C. to second century A.D.
Of tapering form with a trumpet-shaped opening at the top, of elliptical cross-section, the body covered all over with spirals set in paralellograms in seven tiers and a green patina with a few brown spots. Stand.
Height 56.3 cm; max width 33.2 cm
Bells like this one have been found in large numbers in sizes between 34 and 60 cm in the Battambang region of Cambodia. Cf. the 57 cm high bell from Tuol Thmar, Samrong, now in the National Museum Phnom Pehn (H. Jessup and T. Zephir (eds.), Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia, Millennium of Glory, 1997, p. 8, fig. 4) and the similarly sized bell found in Selangor in West Malaysia (British Museum, inv. no. 1949,0715.1). A privately owned bell is illustrated in: Emma C. Bunker and Douglas Latchford, Adoration and Glory, The Golden Age of Khmer Art, Chicago 2004, no. 2. Another bell was offered in 2003 by the art dealer Marcel Nies Oriental Art, Antwerp. Like the Dong Son bronze drums such bells may have been political regalia that confirmed the legitimacy of local polities to govern their areas.
Provenance
Private collection, The Netherlands, acquired from Zenith Oriental Art, Maastricht, on 15.10.1998 (invoice available)