Page 396 - Sotheby's October 3 2017 Chinese Art

3724
PROPERTY FROM A JAPANESE PRIVATE
COLLECTION FORMED BEFORE WORLD WAR II
AN IMPERIAL GILT-BRONZE
ARCHAISTIC TEMPLE BELL,
BIANZHONG
MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI
(DATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH
1715)
the large bell finely cast, suspended from a
double-headed dragon handle, each beast
powerfully cast with eyes bulging and nostrils
flaring above long curling whiskers, the mouth
clenched open to reveal its tongue thrust
between sharp fangs, with a pair of straight
horns extending back over its head along a
combed mane with fine details, the two scaly
bodies intertwined and crouching in ambush,
the large barrel-shaped body with four panels
of alternating bosses and trigrams, divided by
two rectangular panels, one inscribed with the
characters Kangxi wushisi nian zhi (‘Made in the sets in the 52nd year (1713) and the second two
54th year of Kangxi’) corresponding to 1715, and sets in the 54th year (1715), and are believed to
the other with zhonglü (the sixth tone)
33 cm, 13 in.
HK$ 600,000-800,000
US$ 77,000-103,000
清康熙五十四年
鎏金銅交龍鈕八卦紋「仲呂」編鐘
Mark
394 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比
During the Qing dynasty bianzhong were
produced for the court and they became
an essential component of Confucian ritual
ceremonies at the Imperial altars, formal
banquets and processions. The music produced
by these instruments was believed to facilitate
communication between humans and deities.
Gilt-bronze bells of this type were assembled
in sets of sixteen and produced twelve musical
tones, with four tones repeated in a higher
or lower octave. Of equal size but varying
thicknesses, these bells were attached to tall
wooden frames in two rows of eight, as depicted
by Guiseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) in his
painting Imperial Banquet in Wanshu Garden
(ca. 1755), included in the exhibition Splendors
of China’s Forbidden City. The Glorious Reign of
Emperor Qianlong, The Field Museum, Chicago,
2004, cat. no. 101.
Four sets of bells of this form appear to have
been created during Kangxi’s reign; the first two
have been made for the Temple of Agriculture
in Beijing. Several bells from the latter sets have
been offered at auction. See two examples, one of
yingzhong tone and the other of huangzhong tone,
sold in these rooms, 8th April 2010, lot 1858, and
7th October 2010, lot 2105 respectively; a pair,
of yingzhong and ruibin tones, sold at Christie’s
Hong Kong, 1st December 2009, lot 1942; and
two sets of five bells, formerly in the Audrey B.
Love collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 20th
October 2004, lots 455 and 456.
For bells from the set dated to 1713, see one sold
in our New York rooms, 24th April 1975, lot 240;
and two sold in these rooms, 9th October 2007,
lot 1327, and the other, 17th May 1979, lot 454.
The dragons surmounting this bell are known
as pulao, which according to ancient Chinese
legend is one of the nine sons of the dragon. In
this myth it was said that pulao resided close to
the shore while his arch enemy, the whale, lived
in the ocean. Whenever the whale would come to
attack, pulao would sound a roar. The structure
of a bell is thus associated with this legend; the
clash of the bell, pulao, with the striker, the whale,
would result in the dragon producing its loud
ringing roar.