Page 49 - March 23, 2022 Sotheby's NYC Fine Chinese Works of Art

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PROPERTY FROM THE CARLTON AND JUNE BAXTER COLLECTION Bianzhong were produced for the court during the Qing
AN IMPERIAL GILT-BRONZE TEMPLE BELL dynasty (1644-1911) as an essential component of Confucian
(BIANZHONG) ritual ceremonies at the imperial altars, formal banquets
and processions. The music produced by these instruments
MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI, DATED TO was believed to facilitate communication between humans
THE 52ND YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1713 and deities. Gilt-bronze bells of this type were assembled in
sets of sixteen and produced twelve musical tones, with four
cast with two inscriptions within rectangular cartouches
reading Kangxi wushier nian zhi (made in the fifty-second Bei tones repeated in a lower octave: Bei Yize, Bei Nanlu, Bei
year of Kangxi), and Bei yingzhong, wood stand (2) Wushe, Bei Yingzhong, Huangzhong, Dalu, Taicu, Jiazhong,
Height 11¾ in., 30 cm Guxi, Zhonglu, Ruibin, Linzhong, Yize, Nanlu, Wushe,
Yingzhong. These bells were attached to tall wooden frames
in two rows of eight arranged from low to high octaves,
PROVENANCE with the yang tones on the upper rack and the yin on the
Christie’s London, 30th October 1952, lot 84. lower rack. Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) depicts such
Wm. Williams (Kensington) Ltd., London, 1953. an arrangement of bells in his painting Imperial Banquet
Collection of James A. Bines (1905-1987). in Wanshu Garden (ca. 1755), included in the exhibition
Gifted to the present owners in the 1970s. Splendors of China’s Forbidden City. The Glorious Reign of
Emperor Qianlong, The Field Museum, Chicago, 2004, cat. no.
$ 80,000-120,000 101. Unlike archaic bells which ranged in size, Qing dynasty
bells were cast in equal size but varied in thickness—the
清康熙五十二年 (1713年) 銅鎏金蒲牢鈕 thicker the casting, the higher the tone of the bell. To ensure
the exact pitch, these bronze cast bells were hand finished
八卦紋「倍應鐘」編鐘 before gilding.
《康熙五十二年製》款 The present bell bears an inscription identifying it as Bei
Yingzhong, from the 52nd year of the Kangxi Emperor’s
字： reign, corresponding to 1713. Bells of this form, dated to
倍應鐘 different years of the Kangxi reign, are believed to have been
created for the Temple of Agriculture in Beijing. A full carillon
of bells with the same design and date is in the collection
來源
of the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the exhibition La
倫敦佳士得1952年10月30日，編號84 Cité interdite; Vie publique et privée des empereurs de Chine
Wm. Williams (Kensington) Ltd.，倫敦，1953年 (1644-1911), Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, 1996, cat. no. 49.
James A. Bines (1905-1987) 收藏 For similar bells sold at auction, see a set of five—Bei Nanlu,
1970年代贈予現任藏家 Ruibin, Linzhong, Wushe, and Yingzhong—formerly in the C.
Ruxton and Audrey B. Love Collection and sold at Christie’s
New York, 20th October 2004, lot 455; a Guxi bell sold in
the same rooms, 30th November 1984, lot 554; a Taicu bell
sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 4th October 2011, lot 1981,
and another Wushe bell sold in the same rooms, 9th October
2007, lot 1327. See a further Ruibin bell sold in our London
rooms, 5th November 2014, lot 16. For a Bei Yingzhong bell of
the same design, but dated to the 54th year of Kangxi’s reign,
compare one which was also from the C. Ruxton and Audrey
B. Love Collection and sold in the same aforementioned sale,
lot 456 (part lot).
The dragons surmounting this bell are known as pulao, which
according to ancient Chinese legend is one of the nine sons
of the dragon. The myth alleges that Pulao resided close to
the shore while his archenemy, 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.

94 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10917