Page 182 - Imperial Sale Chinese Works of Art June 1 2016 HK

D 3308 秦 錯金青銅甬鐘

A RARE GOLD-INLAID ARCHAIC BRONZE BELL, 來源
約1995年購自香港
YONG ZHONG
紐約蘇富比，2006年9月21日，拍品159號

QIN DYNASTY (221-206BC) 鐘身呈合瓦形，前後鉦部各有圓枚三行。整體錯金裝飾。篆
部飾幾何紋，鉦間、鼓部均飾雙龍紋，甬部飾兩組四葉紋。
Cast of pointed elliptical cross-section and barrel form with a 舞上並鑄虎首，虎舌伸出，形象生動。于內四音脊。通體佈
crescent-shaped aperture, each side decorated with sets of three 孔雀石和藍銅礦飾。
rows of raised bosses, each row separated horizontally by a
rectangular register inlaid with geometric scroll relief, divided by a 甬鐘因舞上甬管而得名，是編鐘一種，此器各部份比例合
pair of stylised confronted dragons on the central reserve, the main 理，造型優美，繼承了戰國青銅器以來的錯金銀、高浮雕裝
vertical band above the mouth rim inlaid with a pair of stylised 飾，工藝技術水準極高。同樣特式的秦編鐘，見陝西省博
descending dragons, one side with an arching tiger head with a 物館藏「樂府」銘文鈕鐘，該鐘1977年出土於臨潼秦始皇陵
protruding tongue perched on the edge of the bell’s shoulder and 園，載於1996年香港出版《中國文物精華大辭典─青銅卷》
in front of a tubular shank for suspension, the sides of the shank （第2版），296頁，編號1064。另有例子展出於1991年6-7月
inlaid with trefoils arranged into two registers and the circular 倫敦Eskenzai Ltd《Inlaid Bronze and Related Material from Pre-
upper surface with a quatrefoil floret, the interior of the bell with Tang China》，圖錄編號3。
four thickened tongues extending from the inner rim, the surface
covered with light malachite and azurite encrustation.

18 in. (45.8 cm.) high, stand, box

HK$1,800,000-2,500,000 US$230,000-320,000

PROVENANCE:

Acquired in Hong Kong, circa 1995
Sold at Sotheby’s New York, 21 September 2006, lot 159

This type of clapperless ritual bells, yongzhong, each providing two
tones when struck, was derived from earlier examples of the Warring
States period, such as the set excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi
of Zeng, unearthed in Sui county, Hubei province in 1981 and dated to
the 5th century BC. It is interesting to note the four thickened tongues,
integrally cast along the inner wall of the bell, which was a design
detail and served to provide a specific pitch. For a detailed discussion
on ritual bells, cf. an essay by L. von Falkenhausen and T. Rossing,
‘Acoustical and Musical Studies on Sackler Bells’, ed. J. So, Eastern
Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. III,
New York, 1995, appendix 2, pp. 431-484.

Compare with two related
examples both cast with an upright loop-handle rather than a shank-
handle. The first of these inlaid bells is inscribed with the characters Le
Fu, ‘Music Palace’, was excavated in 1977 from an imperial Qin dynasty
tomb is now in the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo
Wenwu Jinhua Dacidian, Bronzes, Commerical Press, Hong Kong, 1996,
p. 296, no. 1064; and the other was included in the exhibition, Inlaid
Bronze and Related Material from Pre-Tang China, June-July 1991,
Eskenazi Ltd, London, no. 3.

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