Gong (Kyi Zi)

ClassificationsTools and Equipment-musical instruments-gongs

Date19th to 20th Century

Made AtMyanmar, Asia

MediumBrass

Dimensions8 1/8 × 12 1/2 × 3/4 in. (20.6 × 31.8 × 1.9 cm)

Credit LineGift of Anne and Long Shung Shih

Object number2020.14.19

DescriptionThis is a brass gong made in modern-day Myanmar sometime in the 19th or 20th centuries. These gongs were made to be hung in temples and resonate when struck, which was usually done to announce several important daily happenings. They can vary substantially in size which affects the sound they make. They are sometimes inscribed, though that is not uniformly the case. They take a handful of shapes, one of which is that of the seated Buddha seen here. It would have originally been cast in a mold formed by a wooden pattern.

On View

Not on view

Collections