Page 156 - Sotheby's NYC September 20 2022 Forging An Empire Bronzes

southern bells have been discovered in isolated hoards, offering few clues to dating through stratigraphic Stylistically, the present bell belongs to a distinct group of nao which Jenny So speculates was produced
relationships or association with other artifacts. For this reason, Jessica Rawson advises that the series of after the Dayangzhou group, possibly in the 12th or 11th century BC. The nao from this group were
nao bells are considered independent of more securely dated bronzes of the north. generally made in extremely large size, up to 103cm in height, with massive protruding mask-derived
motifs in recessed panels and raised collars or bulges around the shank of a bell, called xuan, and have
Another crucial differentiation is that the southern bells are often found singly, rather than in sets. In mostly been found at sites along the Xiang River in Hunan province. Bells in this category include one
instances where two or more have been found together, their sizes and designs vary significantly. In discovered in 1977 in Ningxiang, Laoliangcang Beifengtan, illustrated in Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual
the exhibition catalogue Music in the Age of Confucius, op. cit., p. 49, Robert W. Bagley speculates that Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. 1, Washington D.C., p. 117, fig. 163; and another now in
unmatched groups of southern bells found together were likely manufactured at different southern the Portland Art Museum, acquired by the museum in 1954 (accession no. 54.29), illustrated in ibid., fig.
workshops and assembled based on their tonal properties, with the measured A-tones of the bells 166. In 1959, five bells were discovered neatly arranged in two rows in a pit in Shiguzhai, Laoliangcang,
discovered together spaced at accurate semitone intervals. Ningxiang county in Hunan; two of which are illustrated in ibid., figs 164-5, and a third was included in the
exhibition Along the Yangzi River. Regional Culture of the Bronze Age from Hunan, China Institute, New
The discovery in 1989 of a princely tomb at Jiangxi Xin’gan, Dayangzhou, provided valuable insight York, cat. no. 22. Another smaller (28.8cm high) bell in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of
into the dating of nao as a quantity of bronzes of southern manufacture were discovered together Art, New York (accession no. 43.24.2a,b), which was acquired from Tonying & Co. in 1943, is cast with a
with datable ceramics. The tomb was dated to the second phase of the Wucheng Culture, roughly similar design profusely embellished with intaglio lines and attributed to the 13th century BC.
contemporaneous with the Upper Erligang and early Anyang phases of the Shang dynasty. Three nao
discovered at the Dayangzhou site are illustrated in Jenny So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the
Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Washington D.C., 1995, p. 440, figs M17-19. 各自的音階相互配合方集為一組，同一音階之間的 公分，鐃面飾有高浮雕的獸面紋飾，甬上置旋，這
半音階數目固定，非常準確。 種風格的鐃大多在湖南省湘江一帶發現。相類例
可參考羅伯特・巴格利所著《Shang Ritual Bronzes
1989年在江西省新幹縣大洋洲程家遺址所發現的大
墓中，出土了大批南方鑄造的青銅器和陶器，根據 in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections》中兩器，其一於
象徵，一般只出現在最奢華龐大的墓穴之中。鐃這 乎所有南方出土之例皆見於獨立的窖藏等處，致使 對出土陶器的年份斷代測試，亦為同出青銅器的年 1977年在湖南長沙寧鄉老糧倉鎮被發現，錄於卷1
，頁117，圖編163，其二1954年由波特蘭藝術博物
種形制於商朝開始出現，其獨特的形狀或許是由鐸 考古學家難以依靠文物之間的關聯推測其年份。因 份提供了珍貴線索。這個墓穴可追溯至吳城文化第 館購入收藏至今，館藏編號54.29，載於上述出處，
演化而成，可參考《Music in the Age of Confucius》 此，藝術史學家傑西卡・羅森認為此類南方鐃器組 二時期，與二里崗上層時期和商朝安陽時期早期約 圖166。1959年，五件排列整齊的鐃被發現於湖南
，弗利爾美術館及賽克勒美術館，華盛頓，2000 的斷代應該與北方年份較易確定的青銅器組分離出 為同一時段。大洋洲程家遺址所發現的三件鐃例， 長沙寧鄉老糧倉師古寨，其中兩件收錄於上述出
年，頁46。 來，分別考證斷代。 可見蘇芳淑，《Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the 處，圖164-165，另一件曾展於華美協進社舉辦的
Arthur M. Sackler Collection》，華盛頓，1995年，頁
如本品尺寸的青銅鐃可見出土於中國南方，主要 另一個關鍵的不同之處在於南方鐃器大多單獨出 440，編號M17-19。 展覽《Along the Yangzi River. Regional Culture of the
見於湖南省北部，亦見於長江流域一帶以東，包 土，而即便在同一地點見到兩個或以上的器例，它 Bronze Age from Hunan》，紐約，編號22。另見一
括湖北、江西、安徽、江蘇及浙江等地。由此可見 們的大小或紋樣亦相距甚遠。中國藝術史及考古學 根據本品風格推斷，其應屬蘇淑芳所述的一類公元 尺寸較小（高28.8公分）近例，飾相類紋飾，斷代
此時期南方於北方的青銅文化中心以外，獨立發展 家羅伯特・巴格利在展覽圖錄《Music in the Age of 前12至11世紀風格獨特的鐃器，其年份應晚於大洋 公元前13世紀，紐約大都會藝術博物館於1943年從
出了一套截然不同的青銅傳統。河南安陽出土的早 Confucius》，前述出處，頁49中論述，這些非同組 洲程家遺址所出。這種鐃尤為碩大，高者可至103 通運公司購入，收藏至今，館藏編號43.24.2a, b。
期鐃，一般較小且多以三個為一組的方式呈現。幾 而製的器例很有可能來自不同的南方青銅作坊，因

154 POWER / CONQUEST: THE FORGING OF EMPIRES