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Lot Essay
Bronze temple bells would have formed an important part of the rituals in a Buddhist temple, they would have provided a platform for dedications; been rung on significant days; to announce events; and the melodious sound produced by the bell was considered a form of communication to the spirit world.
The use of bells has a long history in China, beginning with the sets of musical bells developed in mid-2nd century BCE. The form of the current bell can be surmised to develop along with the Buddhist tradition brought from India to China in the 3rd to 4th century.
Only a handful of similar Ming-dynasty examples have been published, including one in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto which was cast only six years after the present lot (1518), and commissioned by Wei Bin, a eunuch official acting as the Director of Ceremonies under Zhengde emperor and for whom the Hongshan Si ('Temple of Great Bounty') was built. Interestingly that bell also bears the inscription wishing the emperor wan sui (ten thousand years). For a detailed discussion, see Klaas Ruitenbeek, "Wei Bin's Bell", Orientations, 2006, vol 37, no. 3, pp. 66-69.
A further similar example dated to the eleventh year of Jiajing emperor (1632) and cast with the name of the ceremony, the dedicating eunuch, and one hundred and seventy further participants is in the Ethnographic Museum, Stockholm and published by Sheila Riddell, Dated Chinese Antiquities: 600-1650, London, 1979, p. 136, pl. 124. From the parallels in aesthetic composition, it can be speculated that the names on the present lot were also participants in a certain ceremony, although the exact event is not indicated on this bell.
An earlier bell dated to the third year of Zhengtong (1438) resides in the Museum of of Applied Arts & Science in Ultimo, Australia, no H7752, and one of the largest bells of this type in the world measuring at over 5 metres high was cast during the reign of Yongle emperor (1403-1425) can be found in the Ancient Bell Museum in Beijing.
A smaller gilt bronze example (48.5 cm. high) dating to the Chenghua period (1465-1487) was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5 October 2011, lot 1971.
The use of bells has a long history in China, beginning with the sets of musical bells developed in mid-2nd century BCE. The form of the current bell can be surmised to develop along with the Buddhist tradition brought from India to China in the 3rd to 4th century.
Only a handful of similar Ming-dynasty examples have been published, including one in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto which was cast only six years after the present lot (1518), and commissioned by Wei Bin, a eunuch official acting as the Director of Ceremonies under Zhengde emperor and for whom the Hongshan Si ('Temple of Great Bounty') was built. Interestingly that bell also bears the inscription wishing the emperor wan sui (ten thousand years). For a detailed discussion, see Klaas Ruitenbeek, "Wei Bin's Bell", Orientations, 2006, vol 37, no. 3, pp. 66-69.
A further similar example dated to the eleventh year of Jiajing emperor (1632) and cast with the name of the ceremony, the dedicating eunuch, and one hundred and seventy further participants is in the Ethnographic Museum, Stockholm and published by Sheila Riddell, Dated Chinese Antiquities: 600-1650, London, 1979, p. 136, pl. 124. From the parallels in aesthetic composition, it can be speculated that the names on the present lot were also participants in a certain ceremony, although the exact event is not indicated on this bell.
An earlier bell dated to the third year of Zhengtong (1438) resides in the Museum of of Applied Arts & Science in Ultimo, Australia, no H7752, and one of the largest bells of this type in the world measuring at over 5 metres high was cast during the reign of Yongle emperor (1403-1425) can be found in the Ancient Bell Museum in Beijing.
A smaller gilt bronze example (48.5 cm. high) dating to the Chenghua period (1465-1487) was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5 October 2011, lot 1971.