A very rare and important Imperial gilt-bronze ritual bell, bianzhong


Qianlong mark and of the period, dated to the 8th year, corresponding to 1743Heavily-cast with fine detail in cylindrical form with gently bulging sides, the flat top surmounted by a pair of entwined ferocious five-clawed dragons, their scales and manes intricately worked below serrated manes running along their arched backs, the large heads surmounted by pairs of antler-like horns, the sides crisply cast with a pair of sinuous five-clawed dragons also with intricately rendered scales and serrated back manes, striding amidst lingzhi-shaped clouds and flames above a band of rolling waves, the dragons separated by vertical rectangular panels, each surrounded by clouds and resting on a double-lotus base, one enclosing an incised dated reign mark reading Qianlong ba nian zhi, the other with three characters reading beinanlü, all between bands of classic foliate scrolls and formalised cloud wisps with two striking discs above the edge. 27.3cm (10 3/4in) high.
|清乾隆 銅鎏金交龍鈕雲龍趕珠紋「倍南呂」編鐘 《乾隆八年製》款Provenance:A Tennessee private collection, USAA distinguished Texas private collection, USA, acquired by the father of the present owner from the above, and thence by descent來源：美國田納西州私人舊藏美國德州顯赫私人收藏，現藏家之父購於上者，後人保存迄今Bells of this type, known as bianzhong, were an essential part of the Imperial Court ceremonies and ritual performances. Sacrifices to Heaven, Earth, Sun, Moon, sacred mountains, Imperial ancestors, agriculture and sericulture, were all designed to establish legitimacy for the ruling dynasty, with the emperor as the direct intermediary between Heaven and Earth. Music played a central role in these religious rites at least since the Zhou dynasty. Because of their significance, objects made for these Imperial rituals were spared no expense and had to meet ancient standards of form, even when made with new materials. It has been noted that in 1741, the Qianlong emperor set up a Music Division for Court music and the specified melodies he chose for the various functions lasted into the early 20th century; see Chuimei Ho and B.Bronson, Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, London, p.52. Bells such as the present lot, usually accompanied by jade chimes, came in sets of sixteen which produced twelve musical notes, with four additional notes repeated either in a higher or lower pitch. The pitch depended on the thickness of the bell, with thicker walls resulting in a higher pitch, because of a smaller interior space for vibration to produce the sound. The pitch of the present lot is indicated as being beinanlü, the lower pitch of the tenth note.Sets of such bells were arranged in two rows and suspended from massive elaborate wooden frames, as seen in a complete set of the Qianlong period in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in situ together with a complete set of chimes, in Qingdai Gongting Shenghuo, Hong Kong, 1985, pls. 43 and 44, and a Kangxi period set cast with similar decoration, also in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by E.S.Rawski and J.Rawson, eds., China: The Three Emperors 1662-1795, London, 2006, pp.122-123, no.32, where the set is illustrated next to a corresponding jade chime set, no.31. The frame suspending the bells is carved with dragons, while that suspending the chimes is carved with phoenix, symbolising the duality of yang and yin, with the music produced creating a harmonious synthesis. These bell and chime sets can also be seen on either side of the main tent in a handscroll titled Imperial Banquet in the Garden of Ten Thousand Trees attributed to the Court painter Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) and other Court painters, completed in 1755, illustrated by by E.S.Rawski and J.Rawson, ibid., pp.170-171, no. 76. See also two comparable gilt-bronze ritual bells, dated to 1744, in the Château de Fontainebleau, illustrated in Le Musée Chinois de I'Imperatrice Eugenie, Fontainebleau, 2011, p.39.Compare with a closely-related gilt-bronze ritual bell, dated as the present lot to 1743, but of a different pitch, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1540. See also a similar gilt-bronze ritual bell, bearing the same date and pitch sound of beinanlü, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 15-16 September 2015, lot 160.編鐘呈圓酒桶形，上鑄雙龍交鈕，龍身矯健，前肢伏地，腮毛雙角後伏，頭微昂。頂部平面無紋，可見兩處鑄造遺留之方補。鐘外壁紋飾分為三層，上下兩層為祥雲紋及連枝唐草紋，底層鼓部鑄圓形平面撞座，中間一層主紋飾為雙龍趕珠，龍紋之下飾以江崖海水，周圍填以雲火紋。鐘身前面鉦部正中陰刻「倍南呂」，背面鉦部正中陰刻「乾隆八年製」。外壁鎏金，內壁出綠繡。乾隆六年（1741）皇帝下令重考樂律，在康熙五十二年(1713年)成書的《律呂正義》基礎上編成《御製律呂正義》一百二十卷，歷時五年而成。第六十二卷明確記載了編鐘的制式和尺寸，其中倍南呂鐘尺寸為：「倍南呂之鐘，內高七寸三分零七毫七絲，中徑六寸八分六釐二毫一絲，上頂下口內徑俱四寸七分五釐五毫一絲，中容積二百二十三寸四百六十分三百一十釐六百八十毫，體厚一分四釐二毫。」北京故宮尚存一套完整乾隆年製十六枚編鐘，見《清宮生活圖典》，北京，頁31；另有一套康熙年製編鐘，見 E.S.Rawski及J.Rawson合編，《China: The Three Emperors 1662-1795》，倫敦，2006年，頁122至123，編號32，書內且錄有一套玉磬。金鐘、玉磬常為一對。清乾隆，郎世寧等1755年所繪《萬樹園賜宴圖》可見大帳兩側列有金鐘一套於左，玉磬一套於右，見前書，頁170至171，編號76。法國楓丹白露宮藏有兩件鎏金編鐘，乾隆九年款，見《Le Musée Chinois de I'Imperatrice Eugenie》，楓丹白露，2011年，頁39。佳士得香港售出一件乾隆八年款鎏金編鐘可作參考，調性不同，2008年5月27日，拍品1540。另可比較一件與本件拍品年款及調性相同的鎏金編鐘，2015年9月15至16日售於紐約蘇富比，拍品160。