Published:
1. Rose Kerr et al., Chinese Antiquities from the Wou Kiuan Collection, Hong Kong, 2011, pl. 27.
2. Christian Deydier, Chinese Masterpieces from Private Collections, Paris, 2023, p. 46, pl. 10.

China, 5th century BC. Exquisitely cast with confronting dragons on its handle, the upper section is divided into two sections by a plain, wide, vertical panel flanked on each side by three wide horizontal panels, each containing three bosses cast in high relief in the form of outwardly coiling dragons and separated from each other by two narrower horizontal bands of small, sharply cast interlaced stylized dragons framed by plain raised lines. The lower part of each side of the bell is decorated with a very elaborate taotie mask design cast with intricate details in low relief and flanked by hooked and plumed stylized dragons.

Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities. Tiny nicks, small dents, few cracks to the interior and lower register. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina with malachite encrustations.

Provenance:
- Christie's London, 24 June 1968, lot 168.
- The collection of Dr. Wou Kiuan, acquired from the above.
- Wou Lien-Pai Museum, coll. no. E.8.38.
- Sotheby's New York, 22 March 2022, lot 40, sold for USD 32,760 (or approx. EUR 32,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
- A private collection in France, acquired from the above.
- Galerie Christian Deydier, Paris and Hong Kong, by 2023.

Dr. Wou Kiuan (1910-1997) was a Chinese diplomat and noted scholar of Chinese art. His father, Wou Lien-Pai (1873-1944), was one of the leading political figures of early 20th century China, remembered for his role as speaker and leader of parliament during the turbulent years of the Republican era. Dr. Wou himself embarked on an illustrious career in diplomacy until his retirement in 1952, when he settled in London and devoted the rest of his life to the study of Chinese art. It was no doubt fortuitous that Dr. Wou's years of collecting coincided with an abundant availability of exceptional Chinese art on the London market. From the mid-1950s to the late 1960s he was able to form a collection of well over 1,000 works that together represented virtually every category of Chinese art. At the heart of Dr. Wou's drive to collect was a burning desire to preserve the relics of China's rich historical past scattered across Europe, and to promote Chinese art and culture. It is unclear when Dr. Wou conceived the idea to create a place to house his collection, but in 1968, he opened the doors to the Wou Lien-Pai Museum, named in honor of his father. Over the years, the museum became a 'must see' destination for collectors, academics, and visiting dignitaries, and Dr. Wou would delight in leading his visitors through the galleries, recounting stories of China's glorious history.

Christian Deydier is an internationally respected scholar, author, and dealer specializing in early Chinese art, particularly archaic bronzes. He holds a degree in Chinese language and civilization from the University of Paris and pursued advanced studies in Chinese archaeology at Tai Ta University in Taipei, where he focused on jiaguwen, the earliest known form of Chinese writing from the Shang dynasty. At the age of twenty-six, he published his first major scholarly work with the École Française d'Extreme-Orient, followed in 1980 by Les Bronzes Chinoises, the first comprehensive synthesis devoted to Chinese bronzes. Appointed an expert at the Hôtel Drouot, he went on to establish Oriental Bronzes Ltd, first in London in 1987 and subsequently in Paris, a gallery that evolved into today's Galerie Christian Deydier, internationally recognized for its exceptional selection of archaic Chinese bronzes as well as its exhibitions and presentations shown at major venues and art fairs in Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong, and New York. Through his scholarship, gallery program, and publications, Deydier has made a lasting contribution to the academic study and connoisseurly appreciation of ancient Chinese art.

French Export Licenses: Certificat d'exportation pour un bien culturel, nr. 234867, dated 10 August 2022, has been granted. A copy of this document accompanies this lot.

Weight: 3,481 g
Dimensions: Height 24.8 cm

With a silk storage box. (2)

Bo zhong are fairly thick-sided bells which, like Western bells, are suspended facing downward from their handles. Like yong zhong, bo zhong were made for use in graduated sets, and according to Jenny So in Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 1995, p. 381, bo zhong and niu zhong appear to have displaced the graduated set of yong zhong after the 5th century BC. The handle is semi-circular, sometimes simple but more often elaborately decorated with three-dimensional animal forms. Bo zhong are usually found in sets of four or five to fourteen, and occasionally in sets of as many as sixty-five.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related bronze bell, dated to the 5th century BC, 29.3 cm high, illustrated by Christian Deydier, Understanding Ancient Chinese Bronzes, 2015, p. 98-99. Compare a closely related larger bronze bell, dated to the 5th century BC, 55 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number 1965,0612.1, included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat. no. 181. The present piece is also closely related to a set of nineteen bo zhong of graduated sizes, unearthed from the tomb of Zhaoqing, a high-ranking official of the Jin state during the late Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC), in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, now in the collection of Shanxi Archaeology Institute, illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji / The Complete Collection of Chinese Archaic Bronzes, Eastern Zhou, Beijing, 1995, vol. 8, pls 111-114.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 23 March 2012, lot 1528
Estimate: USD 194,500 or approx. EUR 235,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A finely cast bronze bell, Bo zhong, Warring states period, 5th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of casting, decoration, and motifs, with similar patina. Note the similar size (23.5 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby's New York, 22 September 2021, lot 39
Estimate: USD 100,800 or approx. EUR 100,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaic bronze bell (Bo), Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of casting, decoration, and motifs, with similar patina. Note the similar size (27.2 cm).