Bells: Luxury Items Since the Bronze Age

Published on 10 September 2019, by Anne Foster

Auction on 16 December 2019 - 14:00 (CET) - Salle 16 - Hôtel Drouot - 75009

This huang zhong, or shiny bell, was made for an orchestra under the reign of Kangxi to celebrate military victories and ritual events.

China, Kangxi period (1662-1722), gilt bronze bianzhong ritual bell decorated in... Bells: Luxury Items Since the Bronze Age

China, Kangxi period (1662-1722), gilt bronze bianzhong ritual bell decorated in relief with two five-clawed dragons above foaming waves chasing a flaming pearl, alternating with two cartouches enclosing the inscriptions “Huang Zhong” and “Kangxi Bing Shen Nian Zhi”, corresponding to the year 1716, h. 20.9 cm.
Estimate: €200,000/300,000

In 1759, a farmer in Jiangxi province found eleven bronze bells, which he gave to the governor of the province. He in turn gave them as a gift to Qianlong , who put them in a pavilion renamed Yungu Tang (“Rhyming-the-Old Hall”) located in Xiyuan Park close to the old Summer Palace. Known…

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