Page 117 - Christies King St. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART

meishu quanji. Gongyi meishu bian, 10, Beijing, 1987, p. 92, The formal arrangement of the carillon of bells, including the bell pei nan lu seen on the lower row
pl. 176). A carillon of sixteen gold bells bearing the marks (illustrated in Life in the Forbidden City of Qing Dynasty: Classics of Forbidden City, Beijing 2007, pl. 50)
‘Qianlong wushiwu nianzhi’ (made in 55th year of Qianlong 合奏中的編鐘（載2007年北京出版《清宮生活圖典》，圖版50號）
reign, equivalent to AD 1790), is also preserved in the Palace
Museum, Beijing (illustrated in The Complete Collection of Scroll painting depicting the wedding of the Guangxu Emperor in 1889, featuring a carillon of bells on the
Treasures of the Palace Museum – 57 - Treasures of Imperial terrace in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, Beijing (illustrated in Life in the
Court, Hong Kong, 2004, pp. 6-7, no. 5). Being gold, rather Forbidden City of Qing Dynasty: Classics of Forbidden City, Beijing 2007, pl. 22)
than gilded bronze, they would not have produced clear notes 光緒帝《大婚圖》，描繪光緒十五年正月1889年皇帝大婚時，太和殿筵宴的場面，編鐘見於圖右上方
when struck and were thus symbolic and for display, rather （載2007年北京出版《清宮生活圖典》，圖版22號）
than for musical use. This gold carillon was given to the
Qianlong Emperor by oficials in celebration of his eightieth
birthday. It appears that the last Qing emperor, Puyi, used
these bells as lien against a loan from Beijing’s Yanyue Bank,
but they were returned to the Palace in 1949 (discussed ibid,
p. 6).

A similar carillon of sixteen bells dating to the Qianlong reign
and preserved in the Forbidden City, Beijing, is illustrated in
Daily Life in the Forbidden City, op. cit., p. 39, pl. 43. Another
set of sixteen Qianlong bells, decorated with trigrams, is
preserved in the Confucian Temple, Beijing (illustrated by
Bruce Doar in ‘The Preservation of Beijing’s Confucian
Temple’, Orientations, vol. 26, July/August 1995, p. 63). It has
been noted that in 1741, the Qianlong Emperor set up a Music
Division for court music and specifed melodies of his choice
for the various court functions that prevailed until the early
20th century (see Splendors of China’s Forbidden City, op.
cit., p. 52). A bell of dragon design, closely related to that of
the current bell, dated to the 8th year of the Qianlong reign
(AD 1743) and of Zhonglu, 6th, tone, was sold at Christie’s
Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1540. Another Qianlong bell
with dragon decoration, also dated to 1743, but of Nanlu,
10th tone, was sold by Christie’s Hong Kong, 3 June, 2015, lot
3119. The Qianlong bell is more rounded and is somewhat
less condensed in design than on the present examples, but
the depiction of the dragons and decorative bands compare
very closely. Two further comparable dragon-decorated bells,
dated to 1744, are in the Palace of Fountainebleau, illustrated
in Le Musee chinois de I’imperatrice Eugenie, 1994, p. 47
fg. 34. From the illustration, these bells appear to be incised
with the characters, Nanlu, the 10th tone, and Yingzhong, the
12th tone. The Fountainebleau bells are cast with angular
shoulders and the characters denoting their musical tones are
incised, rather than cast, as on the present bell.

A gold Kangxi bell of similar design to the current bell, dated
by inscription to the 54th year of the Kangxi reign, is in the
collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. This gold bell is
inscribed 黃鍾 huangzhong, indicating that it is the frst in the
musical sequence (illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji.
Gongyi meishu bian, 10, Beijing, 1987, p. 92, pl. 176). A carillon
of sixteen gold bells bearing the marks ‘Qianlong wushiwu
nianzhi’ (made in 55th year of Qianlong reign, equivalent to
AD 1790), is also preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing
(illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum – 57 - Treasures of Imperial Court, Hong
Kong, 2004, pp. 6-7, no. 5.). Being gold, rather than gilded
bronze, they would not have produced clear notes when
struck and were thus symbolic and for display, rather than
for musical use. This gold carillon was given to the Qianlong
Emperor by oficials in celebration of his eightieth birthday. It
appears that the last Qing emperor, Puyi, used these bells as
lien against a loan from Beijing’s Yanyue Bank, but they were
returned to the Palace in 1949 (discussed ibid, p. 6).

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