RARE IMPERIAL GILT-BRONZE 'DRAGON' RITUAL BELL, BIANZHONG - QIANLONG CAST MARKS, CORRESPONDING TO 1743 AND OF THE PERIOD

The bell is finely cast, suspended from a double-headed dragon handle, each beast powerfully modelled with with eyes bulging and nostrils flaring above long curling whiskers, the mouth open to reveal its tongue flicked up between sharp fangs, with two long studded horns extending back over its head along a combed mane with finely incised details, the two scaly bodies interwined and modelled recumbent, the barrel-shaped body with two dragons striding amidst cloud scrolls, confronting a 'flaming pearl', two rectangular panels, one inscribed with the characters Qianlong banian zhi, 'Made in the 8th year of Qianlong reign, and the other with Zhonglu, accompanied with a later carved hardwood frame and a hammer. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm.) high. Price Realized: HK$32,807,500 ($4,223,933)

Provenance: An English Private Collection

Lot Notes: Bells of this type were known as bianzhong and were assembled in graduated sets of sixteen, providing twelve musical tones with the four repeated notes in lower or higher octaves. The twelve Chinese musical tones are arranged in the following sequence: Huangzhong (1st), Dalu (2nd), Taicu (3rd), Jiazhong (4th), Guxi (5th), Zhonglu (6th and as cast on the present bell), Ruibin (7th), Lingzhong (8th), Yize (9th), Nanlu (10th), Wushe (11th), and Yingzhong (12th). Bells of this type were suspended in two tiers of eight attached to tall wooden frames, as depicted in a Court painting by Guiseppe Castiglione entitled, 'Imperial Banquet in Wanshu Garden', illustrated by Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson, Splendors of China's Forbidden City, The Field Museum, Chicago, p. 52, pl. 42. The bells were arranged in accordance to their thickness and their respective musical note was determined; a set is illustrated in Life in the Forbidden City of Qing Dynasty, The Forbidden City Publishing House, 2007, p. 50, no. 50 (see fig. 1). When struck, the present bell resonnates a musical note of G sharp.

Bianzhong were essential in ritual ceremonies at the Imperial altars, formal banquets and during processions. It has been noted that in 1741, Qianlong set up a Music Division for court music and the specified melodies of his choice for the various court functions prevailed into the early 20th century, op. cit., The Field Museum, p.52.

A set of bells bearing the marks of Qianlong wushiwu nianzhi, made in 55th year of Qianlong reign (1790), is in the Beijing Palace Museum collection. Two of these, denoting the musical note Taicu (3rd tone) and Jiazhong (4th tone) are illustrated in Treasures of Imperial Court, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2004, pp. 6-7, no. 5. The Palace Museum examples are made of solid gold, similar to an earlier set that was cast in the Kangxi reign. The Qianlong set was given to the Emperor by officials in celebration of the Emperor's eightieth birthday; and it has been noted 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, ibid, p. 6.

Two 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 fig. 34. From the illustration, these bells appear to be incised with the characters, Nanlu, the 10th musical note, and Yingzhong, the 12th note. The Fountainebleau bells are more likely to have belonged to a series different to the present example as they are cast with angular shoulders and their musical notes are incised, rather than cast as on the present bell. It is interesting to note that a drawing of a similar bell designed with a dragon, appeared in the Illustrated London News of 13 April 1861, under the title 'French Spoils for China Recently Exhibited at the Palace of the Tuileries' (see fig. 2).

The known Kangxi examples are designed around exterior with trigrams rather than decorated with dragons as on the present bell. There are two groups of five dated to the Kangxi period from the C.Ruxton and Audrey B. Love collection, sold at Christie's New York, 20 October 2004, lots 455 and 456. The first, with an inscription dated to the 52nd year of Kangxi (1713); bearing the 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th tone respectively. The second group dated to the 54th year of Kangxi (1715); bearing the 5th, 6th, 10th, 11th and 12th tone respectively. Another wushi (11th) tone bell from the 52nd year of the Kangxi period from the Lord and Lady Hesketh collection was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9 October 2007, lot 1327; and another wushi bell dated to the 54th year of Kangxi was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 26 April 1999, lot 520.

Christie's Hong Kong. The Imperial Sale including Elegance and Artistry. Treasures from a Private Collection. 27 May 2008