Regina Krahl

Around the time of the Western Han (206 BC – AD 9), jade stem cups of this type were items of the highest prestige produced for the Chinese imperial house, local royalty and a privileged elite connected to these courts. Related beakers have been discovered at some of the period’s most important residential and burial sites, and were in tombs placed in prominent position. They were not ordinary wine cups, but are believed to have been used in connection with immortality rites, possibly as receptacles to contain gathered dew which, mixed with powdered jade, is said to have been consumed as immortality elixir. The bird decoration on the present cup appears to be unique, but would seem to support such usage.

A cup from the tomb of Zhao Mo, King of Nan Yue (r. 137-122 BC), at Xianggangshan, Guangdong province, formed part of an elaborate construct that not only secured it against toppling but also emphasized its significance: It was placed on a pedestal in the centre of a large bronze tripod basin, with a trefoil jade disc around it, like a collar, and with three silver dragons with golden heads rising from the basin to hold the disc; see James C.S. Lin, ed., The Search for Immortality. Tomb Treasures of Han China, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 2012, cat. no. 164, pp. 58 and 287-9.

The present cup is remarkable for its superbly designed and executed, majestic bird motif. The phoenix-like bird with its down-curved beak, up-curved crest, fanciful tail, standing on one leg, clearly represents the Vermillion Bird (zhuque) of the South, which is associated with the element fire and with the force of yang. The cosmological concept of yin and yang and the five elements, associated with the directions (plus the centre), was one of the foundations of Daoist immortality rites. The Red Bird therefore occupies a prominent position in Han iconography and is ubiquitous in Han art, depicted in many different media, in jade, for example, carved in openwork on a pendent, also from the royal tomb of Zhao Mo, see Su Bai, ed., Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo zhongda kaogu faxian/Great Archaeological Discoveries of the People’s Republic of China. 1949-1999, Beijing, 1999, p. 274 (fig. 1); in gilt-bronze in form of finials, e.g. on the famous jade wine container in the Harvard Art Museums (Lin, op.cit., p. 169, fig. 54); and in many Han stone reliefs, e.g. one from Suining county, Jiangsu (Käte Finsterbusch, Verzeichnis und Motivindex der Han-Darstellungen [Register and index of motives in Han illustrations], Wiesbaden, 1966-2004, vol. 1, no. 553)(fig. 2).

The design here used as a backdrop, which looks like a fairly regular geometric pattern, is in fact a most sophisticated design of whorls turned in different directions, joined up in pairs both horizontally and vertically but in an irregular manner, thus imbuing the formal ornament with life. On the present piece, the pattern helps to focus attention on the birds as it serves to texture the ground. Companion pieces are mostly decorated with whorl patterns only, and sometimes have a baluster-shaped stem.

Somewhat earlier in date is a beaker recovered from the site of the Epang palace outside Xi’an, Shaanxi province, which had been commissioned by Emperor Qin Shihuang (r. 221-210 BC) (p. 45, fig. 142); see The First Emperor. China’s Terracotta Army, The British Museum, London, 2007, cat. no. 92; another cup, closely related in shape and with the whorl pattern enclosed between related scroll borders, was excavated from a tomb at Luobowan, Guixian, Guangxi province, apparently belonging to a high official of the Nan Yue Kingdom and dating from the long reign of the first Nan Yue King, Zhao Tuo (r. 203-137), see Guangxi Guixian Luobowan Han mu/Luobowan Han Dynasty Tombs in Guixian County, Beijing, 1988, col. pl. 8 and pl. 28, fig. 3 (fig. 3); and a forth cup from a royal tomb of the Zhu kingdom at Shizishan, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, is published in Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo zhongda kaogu faxian, op.cit., p. 260; compare also a beaker of this type from the Sze Yuen Tang collection, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 5th April 2016, lot 38 for a world record price, together with a related cup missing its stem, lot 42.

This beaker shape, made elegant through its waisted stem, came into use already prior to the Han dynasty and survived it, but not for long. Prototypes may have been pieces of lacquer, at the time also a highly prestigious material, see The First Emperor, op.cit., p. 102, but the royal tomb of Zhao Mo also contained a similar bronze stem cup and cover inlaid with jade plaques (Lin, op.cit., p. 66, fig. 39).

Although no other bird-decorated cup appears to have survived from the Han period, such designs seem to have inspired the later production of archaistic vessels, such as a cylindrical tripod cup with handle from the collection of Quincy Chuang, attributed to the late Ming (1368-1644), where the bird is depicted with a complex, emphatically angled curlicue of tail feathers against a diaper design made up of squared scroll motifs; see the Asia Society exhibition Chinese Jades from Han to Ch’ing, Asia House Gallery, New York, 1980, cat. no. 140.

康蕊君

西漢時期，此類高足玉盃珍貴非凡，乃專為皇室、諸侯、朝廷權貴所製。相類作例曾出土於重要遺址、墓葬，且發掘地點皆於墓室主位。其非用於一般飲酌，而應與祭祀相關，裝盛添加了細磨玉粉、甘露之靈藥，祈求飲者長生不老。盃身鳳鳥紋飾極為獨特，他處未見，其意涵且支持前述論點。

廣東象崗山南越王趙眜（公元前137-122年在位）陵墓出土一件高足玉盃，配件華麗繁複，下以青銅製三足淺盤相托，內置銀製套盤，玉盃立於正中央托高底座，盃身套三瓣玉壁，銀盤內沿作三金首銀身龍，相扣玉壁，整體平穩安定；參考林政昇編，《The Search for Immortality. Tomb Treasures of Han China》，菲茨威廉博物館，劍橋，2012年，編號164，頁58、287-9。

本品造形優美，鳳鳥紋精巧生動，尖喙下鉤，首冠上揚，尾羽豐美，單足立姿，應為南方之神「朱雀」，屬火，性陽。道家長生論述中，天地乃陰陽、五行，四象衍生，即東、西、南、北、中。漢代文化中，朱雀地位舉足輕重，紋飾常見於各式工藝媒材：玉器，如南越王墓出土玉珮，見《中華人民共和國重大考古發現》，北京，1999年，頁274（圖一）；鎏金銅鈕，如哈佛藝術博物館藏知名玉盃之蓋飾（林政昇，前述出處，頁169，圖54）；石碑，如江蘇綏寧縣例，參考 Käte Finsterbusch，《Verzeichnis und Motivindex der Han-Darstellungen》，威斯巴登，1966-2004年，卷1，編號553（圖二）。

鳳鳥紋以穀紋下地相襯，看似素簡，實繁複縝密，渦紋方向各異，兩兩成雙，或水平、或垂直，變化之間，生意盎然，映得主紋更顯耀眼。其他相類之器，多僅綴穀紋，或高足作圓弧形。

陝西西安阿房宮遺址曾出土一件玉盃，錄於《The First Emperor. China's Terracotta Army》，大英博物館，倫敦，2007年，編號92；廣西貴縣羅伯灣出土一例，與本品器形相似，亦綴穀紋，原屬南越國首任君主趙佗時期（公元前203-137年在位）重臣之墓，見《廣西貴縣羅泊灣漢墓》，北京，1988年，彩圖8，圖版28，圖3（圖三）；第四例出土於江蘇徐州獅子山，載於《中華人民共和國重大考古發現》，前述出處，頁260；比較思源堂舊藏一件玉盃，售於香港邦瀚斯，2016年4月5日，編號38，為此類玉器現今世界最高價紀錄，同場另一玉盃，編號42。

玉盃高足束腰，線條典雅，可溯自漢代以前，但為期甚短，應取材漆器雛本，漢時漆作極得珍視，參考《The First Emperor》，前述出處，頁102，趙眜墓葬亦出土類同青銅製高足盃，盃身鑲嵌玉片（林政昇，前述出處，頁66，圖39）。

現知雖無其他漢代鳳鳥紋玉盃，此類紋飾却可見於後代仿古器，如莊貴侖舊藏一件三足盃，斷為晚明，其鳳鳥紋尾羽稜角分明，以方形雲雷紋地相襯，展出於亞洲協會，《Chinese Jades from Han to Ch'ing》，Asia House Gallery，紐約，1980年，編號140。

Past Auction

Monochrome II