Page 171 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art December 2, 2015 HK

PROPERTY FROM A JAPANESE PRIVATE COLLECTION 㖍㛔䥩Ṣ㓞啷炻℞⺢䩳㕤1950⸜ẋ军1960⸜ẋ

3171 ⭖⺟⇞䶐䢔炻ẍ⋩ℕ㝂䁢ᶨ䳬炻ẍ䡏䌱䁢㛸岒㚨Ἓ侭炻⯌℞ẍ
㶭Ḧ昮㛅䁢⣂炻㖶ẋ墥⑩⇯㤝䁢份夳炻㤝⮹夳㕤℔䥩叿抬ˤ
A VERY RARE MING IMPERIAL
GILT-DECORATED SPINACH-GREEN JADE 䡏䌱䶐䢔炻㛸岒⍂慵炻ẍ䘤湫揀ᷳ枛炻䁢䶐䢔ᷕ枛岒㚨䁢Ỷ
MUSICAL CHIME, BIANQING 㰱炻㓭Ṏ㚨䁢㰱⍂ˤ˪㖶⎚˫⌟ℕ⋩ᶨ炻⽿䫔ᶱ⋩ᶫ姀庱炻㗪
Ṣ娵䁢ˬ湫揀䁢⏃炻军⮲䃉㭼ˤ湫揀䁢⭖炻⇯⋩ᶨ⼳䘮⽆侴⍿
DATED TO CYCLICAL XINSI YEAR OF CHONGZHEN, ⇞炻冋㮹ḳ䈑卓㔊㶑䉗䂱˭ˤ䶐䢔堐朊ẍ䲭㺮䁢⸽炻℞ᶲ≈ẍ
CORRESPONDING TO 1641 AND OF THE PERIOD 慹⼑墅梦炻“朊⛯梦㛝暚䲳⚾㟰炻㬋ˣ⍵ℑ朊⇯↮梦㇚䎈暚漵
⚾㟰烉暁漵ᷳ攻炻䀓䎈ᷳᶳ炻暁㕡㟮ℏ↮㚠ˬ湫揀˭炻⍲ˬⲯ
The angled stone is decorated on each side with two ferocious 䤶彃⶛⸜忈˭炷1641炸㫦ˤ℞⚾㟰冯⊿Ṕ㓭⭖㶭⭖冲啷㶭Ḧ昮
five-clawed dragons contesting a flaming pearl below a circular 䡏䌱㍷慹漵䲳ˬ䃉⮬˭䶐䢔䚠役炻䃞⼴侭枛⎵⍲⸜㫦⛯伖㕤
aperture drilled for suspension. One side is inscribed with the 側悐炻⍫夳㓭⭖⌂䈑昊啷㔯䈑䍵⑩ℐ普ᷳ˪䌱☐炷ᶳ炸˫炻
characters, Chongzhen xinsi nian zao, ‘Made in cyclical xinsi year 枩2炻⚾1炻⎗夳㖶㶭ℑ㛅炻䶐䢔墅梦ᷳ㺼嬲斄Ὢˤ冲惵䠔㛐晽
of the Chongzhen reign’; the other side is inscribed with the 坕漵䲳䢔㝞ˣ䢔㢶ˤ
musical tone huangzhong. The narrow sides are decorated with
clouds. 㒂˪㖶⎚˫⌟ℕ⋩ᶨ炻⽿䫔ᶱ⋩ᶫ姀庱炻ˬ℞㦪☐ᷳ⇞炻恲᷀
15 ¡ in. (39.2 cm.) wide, wood stand ⺇䣦炻㳒㬎⃫⸜⭂ˤɃɃょ㔯⺇㦪䓇ℕ⋩Ṣ炻䶐揀ˣ䶐䢔⎬⋩
ℕɃɃ˭ˤ⎎˪㖶⎚˫⌟Ḵ⋩⚃炻㛔䲨䫔Ḵ⋩⚃ˬ匲䁰ⷅ˭㔯
HK$500,000-800,000 US$65,000-100,000 姀庱炻ⲯ䤶彃⶛⸜炻ˬ彃惱炻慵⺢⣒⬠ㆸ炻炷ⲯ䤶䘯ⷅ炸慳⤈
Ḷ⃰ⷓ⫼⫸ˤ˭⇯㬌䶐䢔ㆾ䁢ⲯ䤶⋩⚃⸜炻慵⺢⣒⬠炻䁢㔯⺇
PROVENANCE 䤕⤈⫼⫸㇨忈ˤ

A Japanese private collection, formed during the 1950s and 1960s

This unusual asymmetrical chevron-form panel is a musical chime
which would have been suspended by the circular aperture found
at its right-angle. Chimes of this type were known as bianqing and
were assembled in graduated sets of sixteen, arranged in accordance
to their size or thickness; and were used in ritual ceremonies at the
Imperial altars, formal banquets and processions. The inscription on
the present chime denotes its musical note huangzhong, which is the
lowest note in the entire set.

Extant imperial chimestones from the Ming period are extremely rare.
An entry found in Mingshi, juan 61, benji 37 (History of Ming, Chapter
61, Biography of the Emperor 37) records that the Imperial Academy
was reconstructed in xinsi cyclical year of the Chongzhen reign (1641),
where the Emperor held rites in honour of Confucius in the same
year. It is highly probable that new sets of muscial instruments were
specially commissioned to commemorate the event, from which the
current example probably once belonged.

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