A very rare burl-inlaid zitan birdcage, Signed Jin Sanwei, dated guihai year, corresponding to 1923 | 民國1923年　紫檀嵌癭木金絲鳥籠　《癸亥三月三畏金心神旅蘇精製》篆書嵌金絲刻款　《金三畏》篆書嵌金絲刻印

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 17th November 1988, Lot 210.

Jin Sanwei is ranked as one of the most famous and finest birdcage makers of the late Qing dynasty to the early Republican Period, and a representative of the Nanlong (Southern Chinese Birdcage) School. He employed luxurious materials like zitan, burlwood, and gold inlay, combined with the choice of bird feeders and decorations from contemporary masters, or even antique pieces, to produce birdcages with exquisite craftsmanship and the finest details.

While the top plate is cast with nine archaic bronze ding vessels, and the hook featuring dragons chasing a flaming pearl showcases a traditional Chinese decorative motif, the use of two hand-shaped bird feeders (or water pots) stands out as a bold modern design, and may have been inspired by the Art Déco movement, which by that time had spread to Shanghai where Jin frequently visited.

Only a few examples identified as works by Jin Sanwei have survived to the present day. See one from the Suzhou Museum, illustrated in Handicraft Works Collected by Suzhou Museum, Beijing, 2009, p. 130. See also another in the Yuehua Xuan Collection, illustrated in Tian Jiaqing, Yuehua Xuan cang Qing Dai jiaju yu zhenwan [Qing Dynasty Furniture and Antiques in the Collection of Yuehua Pavilion], Beijing, 2017, p. 52, no. 9.

At auctions, there appear to have been only two examples with a similar gilt‑inlaid mark by the artist and bearing a date. One, crafted in 1918 (wuwu year) without burl inlay, from the Jiansongge Collection, was sold at Beijing Poly, 4th December 2019, lot 5538; another, with burl inlay and made in 1919 (jiwei year), was sold at Christie’s New York, 22nd September 2023, lot 933. While these birdcages share similar shapes, construction methods, and basic ornamentation, such as the bat‑shaped door décor, the combinations of the top plate, hook, and bird feeders all vary and seldom repeat.

來源

香港蘇富比1988年11月17日，編號210

金三畏是清末至民國初年南籠名匠代表之一，以精巧工藝及採用珍貴物料製作著稱。如本作不惜工本的紫檀，癭木，金絲等，配以巧思設計之各式飾件及雀食罐。

籠頂圓飾件鑄仿古銅鼎九具，古錢紋族旋鈕上接浮雕趕珠雲龍題詩掛鉤，技藝卓越細緻，滿溢傳統古風。籠身兩側掛配手形雀食器或水盛，造型奇趣摩登，似是受當代西洋藝術裝飾風格（Art Déco）所啟思。這或許是金氏旅滬時之見聞和受熏陶所致。

現存被認定為金三畏的紫檀鳥籠寥寥可數，極為珍罕。蘇州博物館現藏一例，載録於《蘇州博物館藏工藝品》，北京，2009年，頁130。另有一例，屬香港悅華軒藏品，見田家青著，《紫檀縁—悦華軒藏清代家具與珍玩》，北京，2017年，頁52， 編號9。

拍場上暫知僅見二例，均與現拍品同樣以金絲嵌製年款。首例屬剪淞閣舊藏，作於戊午（1918年）八月，未嵌癭木，售於北京保利2019年12月4日，編號5538；第二例作於己末（1919年）六月，於紐約佳士得2023年9月22日售出，編號933，籠身造型及癭木嵌飾佈局與現品幾近一致，惟現品更上一層，在籠架上下及頂部之癭木上再加嵌纖幼金絲幾何仿古線紋，益顯華貴氣度。