Page 277 - Christie's Asia Week March 2024 Chinese Art

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART INCLUDING THE COLLECTION OF DOROTHY TAPPER GOLDMAN

(another view)

Heavily cast gilt-bronze bells of this type, known as bianzhong, took Guiseppe Castiglione entitled, 'Imperial Banquet in Wanshu Garden',
their inspiration from archaic bronzes of the Western Zhou dynasty illustrated by Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson, Splendors of China's
(1100-771 BC). In the Qing dynasty, the imperial court closely followed Forbidden City, The Field Museum, Chicago, p. 52, pl. 42. The bells
Confucian ideals as set out in ancient Chinese classics such as the Book are arranged in accordance to their thickness and respective musical
of the Zhou (Zhou Li) which advocated that rituals should commence tone. A carillion of sixteen bells is illustrated in Life in the Forbidden
with music. Bianzhong were produced for the Qianlong court and City of Qing Dynasty, The Forbidden City Publishing House, 2007, pp.
became an essential part of court ritual musical instruments. They were 30-31, no. 50.
played during ceremonies at the imperial altars (in particular, the Temple
of Heaven and Temple of Agriculture) and during formal banquets There appear to be two groups of these gilt-bronze bells dating to
and state rites. The earliest Qing bells were part of a program reviving the Kangxi period: the first, like the present pair, dated to the 52nd
season rituals to be performed by the emperor, reinforcing his claim to year (1713), and the second group dated to the 54th year (1715). A very
the Mandate of Heaven to bring harmony to China. similar gilt-bronze bell cast with the Eight Trigrams and an inscription
indicating it was made in the 52 year of the reign of Kangxi (1713) is in
nd
The present bells were part of a graduated set of sixteen, each of which the collection of the Palace Museum Beijing, illustrated by Sun Zhaohua,
is cast with varied thicknesses to provide a range of twelve standard Qing gong bianzhong zhizuo kao (A Review of Musical Instrument
musical tones with four additional repeated notes in lower octaves. Each Chime’s Process in the Qing Court), Palace Museum Journal, Beijing,
bell is cast on one side with its respective musical tone, opposite the 2020, No. 4, p. 21, pl. 4, and is described by the author as one of a
reign mark, and together they appeared in the following sequence: 1st, few sets kept in the Forbidden City for use in ritual ceremonies at
huangzhong; 2nd, dalu; 3rd, taicu; 4th, jiazhong; 5th, guxi; 6th, zhonglu; the Imperial Ancestral Temple (Tai miao) and the Hall for Ancestral
7th, ruibin; 8th, lingzhong; 9th, yize; 10th, nanlu; 11th, wuyi (as cast on Worship (Fengxiandian).
the present bell); and 12th, yingzhong. In Chinese musicology, the twelve
main tones alternately provide a Yang, positive, and Yin, negative note. Further gilt-bronze bells dating to the 52nd year of Kangxi include
The four repeated bells of lower octaves, thus making up the total of a group of five from the Audrey B. Love Collection sold at Christie's
sixteen, are pei yize, pei nanlu, pei wuyi, and pei yingzhong. The tones New York, 20 October 2004, lot 455; an example sold at Christie's New
th
on the present two bells are dalu (2 tone) and zhonglu (6 tone). York, 29 November 1984, lot 554; and one from J. J. Lally & Co, sold at
nd
Christie’s New York, 23 March 2023, lot 932 (cast with wuyi, 11 tone). A
th
th
All sixteen bianzhong would have been suspended in two tiers of eight pair of bells dating to the 54 year of Kangxi (1715), was sold at Christie’s
and attached to tall wooden frames, as depicted in a court painting by Hong Kong, 27 May 2009, lot 1818.
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