A Rare Imperial Gilt-Bronze 'Dragon' Ritual Bell, Bianzhong. Kangxi Cast Seven-Character Mark, Corresponding To 1715 And Of The Period

The bell is heavily cast into a barrel form, suspending from a double-headed dragon handle, each beast powerfully modelled with eyes bulging and nostrils flaring above long curling whiskers, the mouth open to reveal its tongue flicked up between sharp fangs, the gently rounded sides decorated in high relief with horizontal bands of bosses alternating with the Daoist trigrams flanking four vertical panels, one enclosing the reign mark, Kangxi wushisi nianzhi, 'Made in the fifty-fourth year of Kangxi', the reverse side cast with a vertical panel bearing the characters, Yingzhong, denoting its pitch. 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm.) high - Estimate HK$8,000,000 - HK$10,000,000 ($1,036,925 - $1,296,156)

Notes: When struck the present bell resonnates an equivalent to a musical note that is slightly higher than D-Sharp, and has a frequency of approximately 588Mhz.

Gilt-bronze bells of this type were known as bianzhong, and were essential in ritual ceremonies at the imperial altars, formal banquets and during processions. They were assembled in graduated sets of sixteen, providing a total of twelve musical tones with four repeated notes in lower or higher octaves. Each of the twelve Chinese musical tones are cast to one side of the bells, and the bells are arranged in the following sequence: Huangzhong (1st), Dalu (2nd), Taicu (3rd), Jiazhong (4th), Guxi (5th), Zhonglu (6th), Ruibin (7th), Lingzhong (8th), Yize (9th), Nanlu (10th), Wushe (11th), and Yingzhong (the 12th and as cast on the present bell). The set would have been 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, Splendours of China's Forbidden City, The Field Museum, Chicago, p. 52, pl. 42. The bells are arranged in accordance to their thickness and respective musical note. A set is illustrated in Life in the Forbidden City of Qing Dynasty, The Forbidden City Publishing House, 2007, p. 50, no. 50.

There appear to be two groups of these gilt-bronze bells dating to the Kangxi period: the first, dated to the 52nd year (1713) and the second group to the 54th year (1715). Eight bells from the latter year of the Kangxi period are known; five of which were formerly in the Audrey B. Love collection and are reputed to have been taken from the Temple of Agriculture during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, these were sold at Christie's New York, 20 October 2004, lot 456. Three others have been sold at auction: the first, a Taicu bell (3rd tone), Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19 March 1997, lot 25; the second, a Wushe bell (11th tone), Christie's Hong Kong, 26 April 1999, lot 520; and the third, a Ruibin bell (7th tone), sold at Chongyuan, 28 November 2007, lot 1344.

Compare with bells made in Kangxi's 52nd year: a group of five in the Audrey B. Love collection and also reputed to have been taken from the Temple of Agriculture, sold at Christie's New York, 20 October 2004, lot 455. Three other bells have been sold at auction: a Guxi bell (5th tone), Christie's New York, 29 November 1984, lot 554; a lingzhong bell (8th tone), Sotheby's London, 30 March 1978, lot 60; and a Wushe bell (11th tone) from the Lord and Lady Hesketh collection was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9 October 2007, lot 1327.

Compare also a Qianlong example designed with dragons rather than trigrams and the musical note of Zhonglu (6th tone), sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1540.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. 3 December 2008. Hong Kong. www.sothebys.com - Image 2008 Christie's Ltd