Page 21 - Sotheby's Important Chinese Art, Sept. 21-22, 2-21, NYC

PAIR OF ZI GONG

(PRINCE GONG) DING

子龔雙鼎

REGINA KRAHL
康蕊君

Pairs of archaic bronze vessels are very rarely preserved 青銅器成對者存世極罕，而本對鼎器鑄同銘，且銘文
together and the present pair is particularly remarkable 左右相對成鏡面像，更可謂彌足珍貴，實數稀珍。
since the inscriptions seem to be deliberately rendered
partly in mirror image, thus making these two vessels a true 三足之器，為中國新石器時代最早的陶器器形之一，
complementary pair.
可追溯至約八千年前。在青銅時代，各種三足器形出
Bowls on three pointed legs were among of the earliest
pottery vessels produced in China’s Neolithic period, almost 現，如本鼎作圓形腹，帶雙耳，三柱足，兼顧實用與
eight thousand years ago. In the Bronze Age, various tripod 美觀，既可置於火源上方，立於不平整的地面，亦可
forms were devised of which the present ding version–a 懸掛攜帶，其設計更將方圓併置，匯通和諧。三足鼎
globular bowl with two handles, supported on three sturdy 在中國青銅禮器中是最為重要的品類之一，如本品器
legs–was a particularly satisfactory, functional as well as 形之鼎更屬其中經典，為歷代諸朝傳承效仿。即便高
beautiful solution. It answers the needs to raise a receptacle
above a fire source, to place it firmly on uneven ground, 足器形並非理想的瓷器製作典範，它卻仍舊啟發影響
and to suspend it for carrying, and its profile is designed to 著各地、各時期瓷匠的創作。南宋浙江龍泉窰、晚明
harmoniously juxtapose rotund and rectilinear elements. 江西景德鎮、清代福建德化，均曾燒製仿青銅鼎式的
One of the most important types of China’s ritual bronzes, 香爐。
tripod vessels of ding shape such as this pair represent
one of the most fundamental Chinese vessel forms. Its 本對鼎器形及紋飾特徵屬殷墟時期。鼎身紋飾精細異
unmistakable association with antiquity made the shape an
absolute classic in later dynasties, when it inspired potters 常，頸部飾三組獸面紋，以雲雷紋襯底，疏密有致，
of many periods and regions, even though with its tall legs it 莊正大氣。
is not ideally suited to reproduction in ceramics. As incense
burners, vessels of ding form belonged to the regular 可參考一對鼎例，與本對非常相似，但尺寸略小，以
repertoire of the manufactories at Longquan in Zhejiang in 及一單鼎作例，皆帶銘文，均出自安陽婦好墓。婦
the Southern Song (1127-1279), at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi in 好，商帝武丁之妻，其陵墓裝飾奢華瑰麗，斷代約公
the late Ming (1368-1644), and at Dehua in Fujian in the Qing
dynasty (1644-1911). 元前1200年左右。參考《殷墟婦好墓》，北京，1980
年，圖版11:3及4；及《殷墟青銅器》，北京，1985
Form and design of the present pair show the characteristic
features of the Anyang period, the period when Anyang was 年，圖 7:5及圖33:3（圖一）。
capital of the Shang (c. 1600-1046 BC). Their fine linear
design is executed flush with the surface from which only
the eyes and central ridges of the three masks protrude. The
masks themselves are emphasized by being left largely plain
among the dense scrollwork bands, as if rendered in reserve.
A very similar but smaller pair of ding as well as a single
exemplar, all inscribed with the owner’s name, were included
in the lavishly furnished tomb of Fu Hao at Anyang, consort
of Shang King Wu Ding, datable around 1200 BC; see Yinxu
Fu Hao mu / Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang, Beijing,
1980, pl. 11: 3 and 4; and Yinxu qingtong qi / Bronze Vessels
from Yin Xu, Beijing, 1985, fig. 7: 5 and fig. 33: 3 (fig. 1).

IMPORTANT ARCHAIC BRONZES FROM THE MACLEAN COLLECTION 17