A BRONZE DRUM, HAN DYNASTY
China, 202 BC-220 AD. The round instrument supported on a waisted base, the top and sides finely cast in relief with multiple concentric geometric designs including key-fret, triangles, and beads centered by a star design, with pairs of loop handles to either side. The drum produces a clear and distinct sound.


Provenance:
From a private collection in Berlin, Germany. The interior of the drum has an old collector’s number written in faint phosphorescent paint, ’60.’

Condition:
Good condition commensurate with age showing extensive wear and weathering, some casting flaws, old repairs, small losses, nicks, dents, and scratches. Fine, naturally grown patina with malachite encrustations. All as expected from a bronze drum with an age of roughly two millennia.

Weight: 15.1 kg
Dimensions: Height 29.5 cm, Diameter 53.3 cm


Expert's note
: Bronze drums such as the present lot are a percussion instrument used by various ethnic groups from the southwest of China. They were popular in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Hunan Provinces, among which Yunnan and Guangxi have the largest numbers recorded. Both provinces share a border with Vietnam, home to the Dong Son culture, which in turn is well known for its own drums. Applied to sacrifice rituals, the drums were usually used to play music or accompany dance rites.


The Yunnan Provincial Museum
in Kunming houses an important collection of early bronze drums (Warring States through Western Han period) that were excavated from royal burials at Shizhai Shan and other locations in the vicinity of Lake Dian. This part of Yunnan, whose people and language were not originally Han Chinese, had been ruled by the independent Dian kingdom from about 500 BC. Bronzes from this period through the middle Western Han Dynasty (about 100 BC) are unique to the region and share many characteristics with bronze artifacts of Southeast Asia. Their decoration was also influenced by artistic styles of the Eurasian steppe.


After surrendering to Han Wudi
in 109 BC, the Dian kingdom was administered as a frontier commandery of the Han empire. Dian kings were retained as local rulers. From then on, the distinctive Dian regional bronzes were gradually replaced by Han-style bronzes, by the type of cultural assimilation that is called "Sinification" (literally, "becoming Chinese") by Chinese historians.


Literature comparison:

Compare a closely related but smaller drum in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Bronze Articles for Daily Use, Beijing 2007, number 78.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Galerie Zacke, Vienna, 29 September 2022, lot 265
Price: EUR 7,800 or approx.
EUR 8,500
adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze drum, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Note the similar central star medallion and the related forms of decoration. Note the size (51.5 cm).




漢代銅鼓

中國，公元前 202 年至公元 220 年。圓形樂器，頂部和側面精雕細琢，採用多種同心圓幾何設計，包括串珠和三角形，以星形設計為中心，兩側都有成對的環形手柄。銅鈸可以發出清晰而獨特的聲音。


來源：
來自德國柏林的私人收藏。鼓的內部有一個用磷光塗料寫的收藏編號：“60”。

品相：
狀況良好，大面積磨損和風化、一些鑄造缺陷、小修、小損失、刻痕、凹痕和劃痕。精美、自然的包漿，帶有綠色結殼。

重量：15.1 公斤
尺寸：高 29.5 厘米，直徑 53.3 厘米


文獻比較:

比較一件非常相近但較小的鼓 ，《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集・日常青銅用品》，北京，2007年，編號78。


拍賣比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：Galerie Zacke，維也納，2022年9月29日，lot 265
價錢：EUR 7,800（相當今日
EUR 8,500
）
描述：漢代青銅鼓
專家註釋：請注意相似的星形標誌在中央，以及相近的裝飾外形。請注意的尺寸 (51.5 厘米)。