Wall fragment with fresco depicting six musicians. Bezeklik Caves, China, 9th century AD [2800×2854]

What are these things on the top left?

Also it’s interesting how different the appearance is between the musicians. It’s very naturalistic (and talented), so I assume this is indeed what they looked lik in real life – a band of rag tags from around the world,

I’d love to witness them in action, must’ve been super fun!