An important and extremely rare silver-inlaid bronze corner-piece, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period | 東周戰國時期 銅錯銀獸形承足

Paul Mallon (1884-1975), New York and Paris, 22nd December 1920.

Collection of Baron Adolphe Stoclet (1871-1949), Brussels.

Collection of Madame Raymonde Féron-Stoclet (1897-1963), Brussels, and thence by descent.

Eskenazi Ltd, London, 25th March 2003.

Paul Mallon（1884-1975年），紐約及巴黎，1920年12月22日

阿道夫．斯托克萊特男爵（1871-1949年）收藏，布魯塞爾

Raymonde Féron-Stoclet 夫人（1897-1963年）收藏，布魯塞爾，此後家族傳承

埃斯卡納齊，倫敦，2003年3月25日

Henri d'Ardenne de Tizac, Animals in Chinese Art, Paris, 1922, pl. XVIB.

Leigh Ashton, An Introduction to the Study of Chinese Sculpture, London, 1924, pl. IX, fig. 2.

Exhibition of Chinese Art, Amsterdam, 1925, cat. no. 39.

Walter Perceval Yetts, Chinese Bronzes, London, 1925, pl. 10B.

Gregory Borovka, Scythian Art, New York, 1928, pl. 72a.

Otto Kümmel, Chinesische Kunst, Berlin, 1929, cat. no. 75.

René Grousset, Les Civilisations de l'Orient, Paris, 1930, t. lll: La Chine, p. 134, pl. 95.

Sueji Umehara, O-Bei shucho Shina kodo seika, (Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and America), Part III: Miscellaneous Objects, vol. I, Osaka, 1933, pl. 52.

Georges Salles, Bronzes Chinois des Dynasties Tcheou, Ts'in and Han, Paris, 1934, cat. no. 418.

International Exhibition of Chinese Art, London, 1935, cat. no. 413.

H.F.E. Visser, Asiatic Art in Private Collections of Holland and Belgium, Amsterdam, 1948, pl. 63, no. 129.

La Découverte de L'Asie, Paris, 1954, cat. no. 417.

Georges A. Salles and Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Collection Adolphe Stoclet, Brussels, 1956, pp. 366-67.

Chinese Works of Art from the Stoclet Collection, Eskenazi Ltd, New York, 2003, cat. no. 5 and cover.

Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens Michèle, 'Inner Asia and Han China: Borrowings and Representations', New Frontiers in Global Archaeology: Defining China's Ancient Traditions. Proceedings of the International Symposium Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Peking University, New York, 2008, pp. 437-52, fig. 7.

Giuseppe Eskenazi in collaboration with Hajni Elias, A Dealer's Hand: The Chinese Art World Through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi, London, 2012, Chinese version, Shanghai, 2015, pl. 72.

Sarah Wong and Stacey Pierson, eds, Collectors, Curators, Connoisseurs: A Century of the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1921-2021, Hong Kong, 2021, cat. no. 15.

Henri d'Ardenne de Tizac，《Animals in Chinese Art》，巴黎，1922年，圖版XVIB Leigh Ashton，《An Introduction to the Study of Chinese Sculpture》，倫敦，1924年，圖版IX，圖2

《Exhibition of Chinese Art》，阿姆斯特丹，1925年，編號39

Walter Perceval Yetts，《Chinese Bronzes》，倫敦，1925年， 圖版10B

Gregory Borovka，《Scythian Art》，紐約，1928年，圖版72a

Otto Kümmel，《Chinesische Kunst》，柏林，1929年，編號75

René Grousset，《Les Civilisations de l'Orient》，巴黎，1930年，卷lll：La Chine，頁134，圖版95

梅原末治，《歐米蒐儲支那古銅精華》，雜器部：上冊，大阪，1933年， 圖版52

Georges Salles，《Bronzes Chinois des Dynasties Tcheou, Ts'in and Han》，巴黎，1934年，編號418

《參加倫敦中國藝術國際展覽會出品圖說》，倫敦，1935年，編號413

H.F.E. Visser，《Asiatic Art in Private Collections of Holland and Belgium》，阿姆斯特丹，1948年，圖版63，編號129

《La Découverte de L'Asie》，巴黎，1954年，編號417

Georges A. Salles 及 Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt，《Collection Adolphe Stoclet》，布魯塞爾，1956年，頁366-67

《Chinese Works of Art from the Stoclet Collection》，埃斯卡納齊，紐約，2003年，編號5及封面

Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens Michèle，〈Inner Asia and Han China: Borrowings and Representations〉，《全球化背景下考古學新前沿：解讀中國古代傳統．慶祝北京大學賽克勒考古與藝術博物館成立十周年國際學術研討會》，紐約，2008年，頁437-52，圖7

埃斯卡納齊，薛好佩整理，《中國藝術品經眼錄：埃斯卡納齊的回憶》，倫敦，2012年，中譯版，上海，2015年，2017年再版，圖版72

王嘉慧及畢宗陶編，《百年清賞：東方陶瓷學會的收藏家、鑑賞家及博物館員》，香港，2021年，編號15

Superbly cast and sumptuously decorated in silver inlay, the present corner-piece is possibly unique and encapsulates not only the technological virtuosity of the bronze workshops but also the peak of luxury in the Warring States period (475-221 BC).

Each side of the L-shaped corner piece is ingeniously designed to dynamically depict a winged mythical beast, which, shares a common muzzle with the other, and can therefore also be interpreted as one single beast when viewed from the pointed centre of the piece. Each beast is portrayed striding forward powerfully – particularly accentuated by the extensive use of curves in the fluid outlines of the muscular body – skilfully echoed in the tail, wings, and horn as well as the delicate inlays – in a way that juxtaposes with the straight L-shaped band at the top of the corner-piece.

Like most bronze animals from this period, the current corner-piece had a practical function and was most likely made as a set of four to serve as a corner support for a low table, vessel or tray for an elite or royal patron. See a Warring States period example of mythical beasts acting as corner supports in an elaborate a gold and silver-inlaid bronze table support and frame unearthed at Pingshan county, Hebei province and now in the Hebei Museum, illustrated in Gems of China’s Cultural Relics, Beijing, 1990, cat. no. 69. The placement of mythical beasts at the corners in such a way that welcomes various angles of viewing can be found from as early as the Shang dynasty; see two bronze vessels illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese bronzes], vol. 13: Ba Shu, Beijing, 1994, pl. 87, and vol. 1: Xia Shang, Beijing, 1996, pl. 117.

No identical example to the current corner-piece appears to be recorded, however, four similar silver-inlaid corner-pieces – which would have formed a set in the Warring States period – are known. These comprise two formerly in the collection of Stephen Junkunc IV and now in the collection of Pierre Uldry, illustrated in Chinesisches Gold und Silber – die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, 1994, cat. no. 23, the third sold at Christie’s New York, 17th March 2017, lot 1009, and another in the collection of Dr Paul Singer, illustrated in Max Loehr, Relics of Ancient China from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer, Asia Society, New York 1965, cat. no. 71, where the current piece is referred to “as a rather close example in the Stoclet collection”.

The current corner-piece differs from the set of four most visibly in that the beasts are winged dragons and portrayed in a more naturalistic and three-dimensional manner. Each winged beast is rendered with a more sinuous body and an additional hindleg, heightening the dynamism of the figure; the paws are comparatively more defined with grooves and other subtle details such as the teeth are also more delicately depicted. The employment of the silver inlay is also different; instead of conforming to a consistent geometric pattern, the inlay in the current corner-piece complements the musculature of the beasts and further outlines details such as the striations of the horns. For a similar corner-piece depicting winged mythical beasts, but decorated in gilding instead of silver inlay, see Sueji Umehara, ‘Rakuyo kinson kobo shuei', (Report of the Findings of Old Tombs at Jincun, Luoyang), Kyoto, 1937, pl. LXVII.

A pair of silver-inlaid bronze winged mythical beasts, dated to the mid-late Warring States period, which served as “either stands or fittings for furniture” (Jessica Rawson, Mysteries of Ancient China: New Discoveries from the Early Dynasties, New York, 1996, p. 156) were unearthed from the royal tombs of the Zhongshan state, Pingshan county, Hebei province. One of the pair is illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji gongyi meishu bian [Complete Series on Chinese Art], vol. 5, Beijing, 1987, pl. 108, where the author proposes a link with later bixie figures from the Han dynasty and onwards. For a Han dynasty bronze bixie offered this sale, also formerly from the renowned collection of Adolphe Stoclet, see lot 1.

銅錯銀承足，細緻精巧，耀眼華麗，現知存世獨一無二之例，不僅呈現戰國時期鑄銅技術精湛至臻，且透露當時物質奢華之巔峰。

承足二側為立體帶翼瑞獸側像，於座角口鼻相接成一完整獸面，從中角觀之，仿似同一獸。瑞獸姿態雄壯有力，匍匐向前，身上紋飾曲線，呼應獸尾、羽翼、彎角線條，與承足上端堅硬的直角造形對比，剛中見柔。

如同多數東周青銅獸形造像，此亦為實用器，原或為四件一組，用於皇親權貴之宅邸，支撐矮几、盛器或托盤。參考河北平山縣出土戰國時期銅錯金銀獸形桌框與承足，現藏河北博物院，錄於《中國文物精華》，北京，1990年，編號69。此瑞獸紋設計，使得四方觀者皆能清楚觀之，可溯至商代，比較兩件青銅器，刊於《中國青銅器全集》，卷13：巴蜀，北京，1994年，圖版87，及卷1：夏商，北京，1996年，圖版117。

著錄不見類同之作例，但可參考四件戰國時期承足，應原為一組。其中二件出自史蒂芬．瓊肯四世舊藏，現為 Pierre Uldry 珍藏，出版於《Chinesisches Gold und Silber – die Sammlung Pierre Uldry》， 雷特伯格博物館，蘇黎世，1994年，編號23；第三件，2017年3月17日售於紐約佳士得，編號1009；最後一件為 Paul Singer 博士收藏，載於羅樾，《Relics of Ancient China from the Collection of Dr. Paul Singer》，亞洲協會，紐約，1965年，編號71，羅氏述此例「相當接近斯托克萊特珍藏」。

本品與上述四例相異，此處瑞獸為翼龍，姿態自然，立體圓潤，身軀如蟒，二側後足均有描寫，靈動有力，獸足、掌爪細節清晰，唇齒亦更細膩。錯銀紋飾亦有不同，非一成不變的幾何紋，但隨著肌肉、部位變化，羽翼、鬃毛、彎角，皆有不同，更添視覺美感張力。比較一件鎏金銅獸形承足，亦為帶翼瑞獸，錄於梅原末治，《洛陽金村古墓聚英》，京都，1937年，圖版 LXVII。

參考一對銅錯銀帶翼瑞獸，戰國中晚期，原應為器座，或家具配件（羅森，《Mysteries of Ancient China: New Discoveries from the Early Dynasties》，紐約，1996年，頁156），出土自河北平山縣中山王墓，其一出版於《中國美術全集：工藝美術編》，卷5，北京，1987年，圖版108，作者論及此例應與漢代之後的辟邪相關。並參考本次拍賣一件漢代青銅辟邪，拍品編號1，出自盛名遠播的阿道夫．斯托克萊特男爵珍藏。