明十六 / 十七世紀 銅瑞獸觥 《宣用》款

powerfully cast in the form of a mythical beast carrying a conch on its back, the vessel's rim modelled with a tall incurved shield in front and a flared spout towards the back, the mythical creature formed of the head of a dragon, the winged body of an aquatic bird, and the legs and claws of a bird of prey, its finely incised mane extending flambloyantly each side of the head and its plastron feathers spiralling down the sides, naturalistically dressed overall in a finely incised plumage and flanked by upswept wings envelopping the conch, the base incised with a two-character archaistic mark xuan yong, the bronze richly patinated to a deep reddish-brown colour, carved wood stand

 

本品晚明銅瑞獸觥，取源青銅古器，兼借漆、瓷、牙、玉，獨創奇巧形飾，品讚尤珍。銅觥相較略罕，本品角盃之式源出於玉。其玉者，漢已有之。可參考一作例，出土於廣州西漢南越王墓，錄《中國美術全集：玉器9》，北京，1991年，圖版153。有明一朝，已見玉觥，多雕魚龍。然本品馱觥瑞獸，獸面鳥身，高展鵬翅，身下利爪，爪間連蹼，品樣甚奇。此等瑞獸可見於少數西周晚期青銅尊。如見一尊例，曾售紐約蘇富比2005年3月31日，編號154。另見一例，出土於陝西長安張家坡西周早中期遺址，錄Jessica Rawson，《Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections》，卷IIB，華盛頓，1990年，圖版119.3。