Chinese Bronze Bell

Any idea how old it could be?
Thanks

 

My guesses on Chinese items include probabilities as much as anything. When you have no information except what you can see and that doesn't tell you much, you can achieve some results in dating the stuff by realizing that 98% of it was imported into the US since about 1955. Putting it another way, there's a 98% probability that your bell was made in or after 1955. My dates and percentages are only guesses but I think u can see the point I'm trying to make. And of course yet another way to put it is that there's about a 2% chance that the item predates 1955.

 

Maybe it's a "tiger bell", there are tiger bells in this style from several different cultures and continents.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mon...jCh2_pwAm#hl=en&tbm=isch&q=bronze+tiger+bells

 

Ok, I found something. The piece is most likely some type of a "tiger bell" ( not sure if that is an official name) seen in various Asian countries. But not quite, because there is no tiger head/face. Well, those balls on the top look like eyes but they should be on the front.
According to
http://park.org/Guests/Tiger/details.htm#typea
http://www.tigerbells.nl/details.htm
and some other websites , there are four main types of tiger bells but this one does not fall in any of the categories.
Also, none of them have feet. Why should they, when made for hanging.
So, I don't know. Have to dig a bit deeper.

 

Thanks. I was still typing when you posted.