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Bronze nao with elephant and beast mask design
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Date:Shang Dynasty (ca.1600-1050 BCE)
Medium:Bronze

Dimensions: Overall height: 71cm;Width: of the mouth: 46.5cm;Weight 67.25kg

Origin: unearthed at Shiguzhai, Laoliangcang, Ningxiang in 1959

The name of nao as a kind of musical instrument have different titles, such as Zheng, Duo and other names. But the common name nao is used in most articles. Nao is a percussion instrument with a stand piece connected to its belly. Some of them have no hanging place which makes it impossible for them to be suspended. There are lots of  the same kinds of nao unearthed around area of Xiangjiang River. This nao has a design of a standing elephant in the spot where it is struck. Its main body has a thick-lined design of beast mask, fringed by alternative designs of tigers, fishes and nipples. Actual measurement shows it can produce different pitches when struck on different parts. Most  bronzes nao were unearthed in singles. There are also different views about the time of these bronzes nao, some assigning them to the period of Western Zhou and some in  the Spring and Autumn periods, while many estimate that they are from late Shang Dynasty because of the forms, designs and other concomitants of the bronze nao