Bronze

The art of moulding and chiselling bronze was developed in China in very early times; and besides all the references to it in ancient literature we have many actual specimens of bronze art which undoubtedly belong to the Chou and Shang dynasties. According to the Shu Chiiuj the famous Nine Tripods were made still earlier, in the Hsia dynasty. They were made of metal included in tribute sent from the nine provinces, and each had the map of a province carved on it. But there are now no examples which can be with certainty ascribed to the Hsia period. Bronzes are practically imperishable, and earlier specimens are becoming more instead of le numerous. It is supposed that bronze ve els with inscriptions on them were hidden away in great numbers at the time of the burning of the books; but it is certain that they now continue to be yielded from the soil. In the earliest examples the form is simple and the ornamentation is severe. Those before Ch'in Shih Huang' Ti, that is, belonging to the three dynasties Hsia, Shang and Chou, are considered by Chinese as a first cla . while all later bronzes are placed in the second cla . The Ch'in IMG:p78_2.png:Chinese characters and Han work is -generally in imitation of previous art, but in the T'ang and Sung periods a new originality is found. Bronzes have been for many centuries the objects of minute and loving study, and there have been many important works written on them. One of the best known of these is the Po Lu t'u IMG:p78_3.png:Chinese characters i ued in the Sung dynasty. The interest is not only aesthetic or antiquarian, but because the earliest forms of the Chinese written character are found on bronzes. The Shang inscriptions are few. but there are many from the Chou period. These are always incised, while later specimens in the Han dynasty are in relief. At lea.«t it is so said 79 in Strehlneek; but these easy dicta are often; snares to the amateur. Giles, translating Chad IMG:p79_1.png:Chinese characters Hsi-KU, states that "under the three early dynasties, inscriptions were cast in intaglio.... IMG:p79_2.png:Chinese characters From the Han dynasty onwards,tte inscriptions! were either in rilievo,... or they were incised IMG:p79_3.png:Chinese characters with tools," etc. After the form and the inscription the most i important matter is the patina. The colour, brilliance, etc., of this depend partly on the alloy, j — on the presence of gold or silver with the lead, tin, etc.; partly on the conditions in which the articles lay buried, the nature of the soil and water with which they might be in contact, and so on. Among many famous bronzes which might be mentioned, a bowl at the South Kensington Museum is of great interest and has given rise to much instructive controversy. Some a ert that while the ve el is po ibly antique the inscription has been incised later; these include Giles, Chavannes, Pelliot and Vi iere. Others claim that the bowl and inscription belong to the 7th century B.C. Parker, Hopkins and Bushell support this claim. Bushell: Chinese Art; Paleologue: L'Art chino is; Giles: Adversaria Sinica, No. 9; Stanley: Journal, N.C.B.R.A.S., vol. xliii; Ferguson: Early Chinese Bronzes, ibid. vol. xlvii; Strehlneek: Chinese Pictorial Art; Thom: B.A.S. Journal, vols, i & ii, 1834-5.