Page 106 - 2020 December 1 Bonhams Hong Kong, Eternal Music in Chinese art

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A HUANGHUALI JING ERHU The term Jing (capital) as in Jing erhu refers to Beijing opera in which
Early 20th century the Jing erhu is exclusively used. This fiddle was introduced by the
The long, elegantly carved huanghuali cylindrical neck with a cuboid famous opera singer Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) and erhu master
top fitted with two boxwood tuning pegs, supported by a hexagonal Wang Shaoqing (1900-1958) between 1923 and 1924. With a smaller
hongmu soundbox covered with snakeskin, two steel strings attached soundbox covered by snakeskin (not python skin) and a shorter neck
from the pegs to the base, the bamboo bow-stick stretched by a than the standard erhu, the Jing erhu is able to emit a softer and more
batch of horse hair. elegant sound. Mei Lanfang found it more suited to accompany the
62cm (24in) long (2). singing of Dan (female roles), thereafter this new instrument became
popular not only in Beijing Opera, but also in Yue Opera in Shanghai
HKD50,000 - 80,000 and the Zhejiang area, after Mei’s promotion of the instrument.
US$6,500 - 10,000
琴幹黃花梨質，方材打圓，琴頭微斜，弦軸黃楊質，雕螺旋紋，琴筒
二十世紀早期 黃花梨京二胡 紅木質，作六面形，一側蒙青蛇皮，一側中空，弓桿竹質，緊以馬尾。

Provenance: 京二胡，由梅蘭芳與王少卿等人在1923年及1924年間在二胡的基礎
上改造而成。1923年梅蘭芳與王少卿之父王鳳卿在上海演出《蕩湖
An Asian private collection
船》，深覺傳統京劇伴奏單薄枯燥，缺少圓潤低頻的伴奏，於是王少
來源： 卿將「蘇州灘黃」所用的二胡截短，去掉音窗，改覆青蛇皮，所得新
亞洲私人收藏 二胡音色較為圓潤渾厚，極適合旦角演唱。通過梅蘭芳等人的使用和
傳播，京二胡逐漸成為京劇和其他地方戲曲如越劇的主要伴奏樂器。
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