Item number: A3839

Year: circa 546-284 BC

Material: Bronze

Size: 111.5 x 51.6 x 1.8 mm

Weight: 14.4 g

Provenance: Spink 2023

This object is a bronze huang-shaped ornament (semicircular pendant) cast in imitation of a jade huang.

In form it is broadly semicircular, narrowing at the centre and thickening towards both ends, giving an overall bridge-like appearance. A perforation is present on one side near the centre for suspension. On the obverse, a line running parallel to the outer contour follows the edge and terminates near the central perforation in a spiral motif. The reverse is undecorated; however, the metal shows band-like exfoliation along the inner edge of the curved section and at the terminal of one side, while the opposite side exhibits a chipped corner.

Bronze huang first appeared in the antiquarian and natural-historical writings of Qing-dynasty epigraphers, who described such objects as “coins resembling a stone chime (qing), traditionally said to be apotropaic charm coins.” Thereafter, a wide range of conjectures emerged. Depending on their presumed form or provenance, they were variously termed “bridge-shaped coins,” “chime coins,” or “Yao bu,” or were interpreted as funerary money. However, since ancient coins generally bear inscriptions rather than decorative patterns, and in the absence of sufficient evidence to support their identification as isolated monetary issues, subsequent advances in archaeology have led to the prevailing view that these objects are metal ornaments fashioned in imitation of jade huang. They may have served both as interior decorative elements and as burial accompaniments.

Bronze huang are most frequently unearthed in the Zhou royal domain of Henan, though examples have also been found in Hebei, Sichuan, Shandong, and other regions. It may be inferred that the type originated in the Sanjin area and gradually spread outward. In terms of form, it evolved from early examples that merely adopted the basic shape to later pieces characterised by increasingly complex decorative patterns.

物件編號: A3839

年代: 約公元前 546-284 年

材料: 銅

尺寸: 111.5 x 51.6 x 1.8 mm

重量: 14.4 g

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是仿玉璜造型，但以青銅鑄造的銅璜飾品。

形制大致呈半圓形，但中間較細，兩端較粗，似橋狀。中央一側有穿孔，用作懸吊。正面沿著輪廓，有與輪廓平行的線，在中央近穿孔處以漩渦紋結尾。背面無紋飾，但金屬在彎曲處內緣和其中一側末端有帶狀剝落的現象，另外一側則有缺角。

銅璜最早出於清代金石學家的博物學著作，當時認為「此錢如罄。相傳為壓勝錢」。此後相關推測所在多有，依其可能的形制或出處，稱其為「橋形幣」、「磬錢」、「堯布」，或認為是冥錢。但由於古錢幣多具錢文而無花紋，且沒有更多的證據推斷此為孤例，加上考古學的發展，今多認為是仿造玉璜形式的一種金屬佩飾，亦可作為室內裝飾及陪葬。

銅璜以河南周王畿區域出土最多，但河北、四川、山東等等多地均有所發現。大概可推斷由三晉地區首創，再逐漸傳播。形制則由早期的徒具形狀，到逐漸具備複雜的紋飾。