A RARE BRONZE RITUAL BELL, DONG SON CULTURE
Lot 1508 - AK0126

Northern Vietnam, 2nd century BC to 2rd century AD. Well-cast, of truncated pyramidal form with slightly convex sides, pierced at the top with two small circular apertures for the suspension of a pair of conical clappers.

Provenance: La Balaustra Antichità, Arte Archeologia classica orientale e precolombiana, 1998, Bologna, Italy. Collection of Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022), acquired from the above. A copy of a stamped certificate written by Giuliana Zanetti of Antichità La Balaustra, adressed to Paolo Bertuzzi, dated 5 November 1998, dating the present lot to the Dong Son culture, accompanies this lot. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashion company with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than sixty years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age, with ancient wear and casting irregularities. Typical signs of weathering and corrosion. With a rich, naturally grown patina with extensive areas of vibrant malachite encrustations.

Weight: 313.1 g
Dimensions: Length 12.6 cm

Dong Son (named for Dong Son, a village in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Vietnam centered at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the first century AD. Vietnamese historians attribute it to the states of Van Lang and Au Lạc. Its influence spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Maritime Southeast Asia, throughout the first millennium BC. The culture long remained a mystery to western archaeologists, and it was known only through its bronze objects, many of which were taken from burial sites. Dong Son bronze objects were exhibited in Europe for a century before their original location was even determined, and several theories and speculations over the dating methodologies of the culture continue to this day.