The Function and Value of the Bronze Sculpture Statue (1)
P>Ancient Chinese bronze sculpture statue not only possesses high value of art appreciation but has worthiness of scientific research. The so-called art appreciation refers to the ultra-high plastic arts which are as delightful and pretty as a piece of calligraphy and painting that can send a pleasant enjoyment of art.
Generally, the bronze sculptures of China can be divided into utilitarian, like spear points or adze heads, or sacrificial use, like the numerous large ritual tripods known as dings in Chinese.
The artistic charm of bronze sculptures performs in three aspects: ingenious shapes, rich and elegant decorations and diversified inscriptions.
As mentioned earlier, it may be said that the forms and species of the ancient chinese bronze statues are abundant and multiple. Coupled with the method of co-model casting that one model normally can merely make one bronze. Rare are two bronze sculptures that are exactly the same. Therefore, every piece looks different resulting in broaden the view of art appreciation. Particularly is one of the top-quality products born one after another which always impress and amaze the people. Take the Joint yan(三联甗) for example. Its model has never seen before. Previously found yans, a similar type of today’s steamer are more single ones. This triple yan is composed of three paralleled zeng(and ancient earthenware for steaming rice) and a rectangular-shaped li(an ancient cooking tripod with three legs) just as a steamer with three ears standing on the table. The three loop legs to support the zeng make it stable to place the yan and can steam three pots of meal one time. From this design can see the ingenious idea of this piece of bronze statue. The rectangular frame is decorated with panlong wen(蟠龙纹) interlocked with patterns of swirls and drooping leaves. The decorations are so beautiful and elegant. From the inscriptions gets the idea that it belonged to the well-renowned woman of Fuhao, the queen of the emperor of Shang Dyansty. She was a well-renowned imperial concubine and no wonder it was so rare and precious.
The bronzes of late Shang Dynasty has always been treasured by people around the world. Such as the china bronze xiang zun(象尊), a piece of bronze sculpture, unearthed in Hunan Liling County in 1975 that the entire body shapes like an elephant with abdomen large and firm. Its four stocky and brawny legs seem to stamp on the ground soundly with a slightly S-shaped trunk rolling up. Both with a sense of dignify and smoothness but not stiff curve, it looks just like an alive elephant in real life. What’s more, the whole body of the zun is full of decorations as taotie, kui and lin wen on the nose and snake patterns on the forehead. What a beautiful three-dimensional picture!
There are many fine artworks of bronze statues in Western Zhou of art, of which the niu zun(牛尊) is the most charismatic. It was excavated in Qishan County of Shaanxi Province in 1967. It is entirely based on the shape of a bull with a round body, thick feet, protracted head and wide-open eyes. It seems like roaring and very lifelike. Unconventionally, a square mouth is cut in its back with a lid which is attached to the back with a loop handle. On the lid stands a tiger whose four feet spreading forward and the back slightly curling up as if it was preying. By comparison of the thin fresh ferocious tiger and the large and silly cow, the audiences can not help laughing. Restricted by the bronze sculpture’ application, some china bronze sculpture can not be made so clever and exquisite. However, if you observe carefully, you still can feel the ingenuity of the craftsman.
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