唐 夾紵乾漆佛頭像

the sensuous full face of the enlightened being with slender bow-shaped eyes and hooded eyelids casting a serene and meditative aura with his omniscient black glass pupils gazing intently ahead, all below evenly arched eyebrows tapering at the ends issuing from the broad straight nose and small bud mouth with full, pale red lips above a double chin and a thick rounded neck, the forehead centred with a faint circular indentation that once held a jewelled urna, all below the hair and domed ushnisha with traces of the neatly coifed hair remaining on the forehead and on the sides around the pendulous earlobes with long slits elongated by the heavy earrings worn in his princely former life, the top of the head now left with an uneven rust-coloured surface juxtaposed by the smooth slate-grey lacquer patina of the face and remains of the the hair naturally resembling weathered bronze, the back of the head left open revealing the layers of linen on the interior, wood stand

購於五十至六十年代

《開館特別出品「精品選集」》，九州國立博物館，福岡，2005年，編號30

There are earlobes broken and restuck with old metal armatures, poking through the linen on the interior. The hair is mostly missing with the under layer of lacquer and linen material visible. There are traces of white ground pigment remaining on the face. There are chips around the base of the neck where it was broken off from the body. The urna is missing - only a slight indentation on the forehead. The back of the head most likely was originally closed. UV light showed that there are patches of the face that have been stabilised, but not visible to the naked eye.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

漆佛鍾靈
康蕊君

坂本氏藏佛首莊嚴宏偉，佛相靜美，凝神若思，觸動人心。唐朝佛教造像，能與之媲美者，古今無尋。藝匠巧以夾紵乾漆妙製佛首，臉容祥和諧雅，臻善至美，其鍾靈秀逸，他法難及。佛首碩大，精美絕倫，處處顯示其奇瑋獨特。若論感染人心，誠宗教造像中之菁華逸作。可為凡間俊秀，卻又活現我佛慈悲，蘊涵十德（仁、義、禮、智、信、忠、孝、節、勇、和），形神兼備。

以此繁複漆藝製成之唐代造像，絕無僅有，傳世或止七尊，多有缺殘。夾紵漆塑製作艱鉅，大費周章，製作數量受限，加上乾漆纖巧，保存非易，如今事隔多個世紀，碩果僅存，應屬意料之事。

起始以木柱為蕊，泥塑作模，貼蘸漆麻布以為胎。復施重漆，巧工精雕，敷彩添色，最後割開背面取出木蕊泥坯，只餘薄麻漆層，脫胎成像。較之石雕，夾紵顯然輕巧，可製於城鎮內之專門作坊，再運送至各地，也適用於巡遊儀式中作行像。夾紵造形靈活，成就匠心獨運，刻劃入微，妙製佛首氣韵生動逼真，棱角分明利落，曲弧婉柔圓潤。雙唇飽滿，兩頰嬌嫩，眉若刀裁，鼻如懸膽，親切中見肅嚴，巧奪天工，栩栩如生，歷經千載，猶如往昔，彷彿慈佛臨凡，普渡群生。

有一從未發表過之私人收藏菩薩頭像，同樣碩大壯觀，若論尺寸（約50公分），與此佛首可謂伯仲之間，或同出一藝坊，製造時間相若，甚或與本品同屬一組。菩薩頭像造形輪廓與此作相近，臉相莊嚴，纖毫畢現，髻髮大致尚存。

傳世唐代夾紵塑像，另有六例，各具風華，但與本品相較，論氣勢規模，無有及其浩，論神情氣韵，無有及其妙。紐約大都會藝術博物館著名夾紵坐佛（96.5公分），已知原出河北正定大佛寺，應製於唐高宗永徽元年（650）前後，色彩保存甚佳，圖例見於《世界美術大全集：東洋編》，卷4，東京，1997年，圖版132（圖一）。大都會藏佛像神情與本品相似，髻髮品相又甚接近，或製於同一作坊，然尺寸稍小，較形粗略，眉目刻劃，未如細緻。華盛頓弗利爾美術館存相類坐佛，體量較小（72.5公分），與大都會藏佛像同見於松原三郎，《中囯仏敎彫刻史論》，東京，1995年，卷3，圖版810（請參考拍賣圖錄）。山中商會舊存半身佛像（餘高約51公分），也可資參考（圖二），惟現時下落未明，刊於 Osvald Sirén，《Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century》，倫敦，1925年，圖版549。該書作者認為半身像與大都會坐佛同屬一系。另有半身佛像（餘高45.7公分），現藏西雅圖藝術博物館（館藏編號51.71），原屬 Eugene Fuller 紀念收藏，其細膩卷髮品相較佳，大體尚存（請參考拍賣圖錄）。上述諸佛塑像，造型相近，似有所關連。相反克里夫蘭藝術博物館藏菩薩坐像（44公分，館藏編號1983.86）（請參考拍賣圖錄）及曼舞天女（40公分，館藏編號1953.356），所展現之風格，卻折然不同。李雪曼在其文章〈A Chinese Lacquer Sculpture〉中，討論克里夫蘭藝術博物館藏天女時，提及部分上述唐朝夾紵乾漆塑像，詳見《Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art》，卷43，第1期， 1956年1月，頁6-9。李雪曼在文中又舉了一些年代較晚之例，如 John D. Rockefeller Jr. 藏羅漢像，品相良好，幾近完整無缺，卻未必為唐時漆作。有關該羅漢像之著錄似乎僅見於李氏一文。Siren 曾於著作刊錄巴爾的摩華特斯美術館藏坐佛之圖（館藏編號25.9），該像木胎，表面覆以布料漆層，有說乃上述夾紵脫胎塑像之雛本。

唐朝漆藝罕稀，主要見於銅鏡背面以便貼鑲嵌飾，或施於素紋木作或瓷品表面。即使李唐之時，夾紵乾漆製作似乎未有久持，後世雖數度再起，惜技藝不逮，難復唐時輝煌。然乾漆之技，早年流傳至日本，發揚光大，成為該地重要工藝，歷經多個世紀，持續不衰。據西川杏太郎，〈Dry Lacquer Statues of Japan〉，N.S. Brommelle 及 Perry Smith 編，《Urushi. Proceedings of the Urushi Study Group, June 10-27, 1985, Tokyo》，聖莫尼卡，1988年，頁127，記錄指七世紀中葉，日本製四大天王乾漆像，以供奉於奈良大安寺。八至九世紀，夾紵之藝更是風靡一時。奈良一帶，至今仍存不少乾漆藝作，多為首府城內或周邊重要佛寺而製，而李雪曼更特別舉東大寺及興福寺為例，上述出處。較此以前，日本已見有木雕造像上局部施漆，以便塑形，例子包括法隆寺百濟觀音。相關乾漆造像，可參考立像二軀，紀年公元734，圖見於西川杏太郎，上述出處，頁128，圖2及3。在日本，獲評為「国寶」或「重要文化財」之乾漆塑像，計有四十八尊之多。