Page 46 - Christie's Hong Kong Important Chinese Works Of Art May 30 2022

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AN USUAL BRONZE TIGER-FORM FINIAL 戰國 青銅虎鈕

WARRING STATES PERIOD (475-221 BC) 來源:
The finial is solidly cast in the form of a crouching tiger. Its head is 1995年12月6日購藏於香港
raised growling with a long lean body and outstretched tail curling 台灣清翫雅集成員舊藏
upwards at the tip. The head is finely cast with wavy lines suggesting 雲中居，台北
fur, and with spiraled scrolls and continuous patterns defining the 香港佳士得，2020年7月9日，拍品2864號
brows, ruff and the tail, the eyes inlaid with turquoise. Each side
of the body is also decorated with bands of stylised kui dragons. 鈕呈伏虎狀，身體修長，長尾捲曲，剛健有力。虎首上揚，圓耳側立，雙目
The underside has a small aperture for attachment. 圓瞪，並以綠松石飾之。全器表面陰刻細線，虎軀兩旁則刻飾夔龍紋，以示
9¡ in. (24 cm.) long, box 毛髮。此器下方見有一孔，似為原作青銅飾件的鑄接痕。
HK$400,000-500,000 US$52,000-64,000 此青銅虎極有可能原為青銅錞于頂部中央所鑄之虎形鈕。錞于為古代樂器，
即《周禮》中所載之「六鼓四金」，為商周禮制極為重要之鳴擊器。而在出土
P R O V E NAN C E : 文物資料當中，錞于在春秋晚期進入吳越地區，戰國晚期至西漢早期，更為
Acquired in Hong Kong, 6 December 1995 巴人廣用，其中以虎鈕錞于則最具代表性，其多與鼓配合，為軍旅發號施
The property of a member of the Ching Wan Society, Taiwan 令之重器。巴人認為虎為百獸之王，為勇猛威武的象徵。《後漢書》記：
Chang Wei-Hwa & Company, Taipei 「廩君死，魂魄世為白虎。巴氏以虎飲人血，遂以人祠焉。」廩君為巴人
Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 9 July 2020, lot 2864 先祖，因其死後魂魄化為白虎，故巴人認為虎為百獸之王，視其為勇猛威
Bronze tiger-form fittings of this type were originally used as the finial on top of a 武的象徵。
bronze drum, chunyu, which served as a musical instrument to give commands
to troops, as stated in Zhouli (Rites of Zhou). From late Warring States (475-221 BC) 可參考兩件素面青銅虎鈕錞于，其載於J. So所著的《Eastern Zhou Ritual
to early Western Han (206 BC-AD8) the instrument was largely used by people in Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections》，紐約，1995 年，頁399-405，
the State of Ba (?-316 BC), an ancient state in eastern Sichuan province whose
border was shared by the Qin, Chu and Shu Kingdoms. 圖版編號82及83。其中前者屬於公元前4至3世紀之錞于，後者則為公元
3世紀下半葉。另有一件西漢青銅虎鈕錞于則藏於陜西歷史博物館，
According to legend, the founder of the State of Ba, Lord Lin, transformed into 見《陜西青銅器》，西安，1994 年，頁284。
a white tiger after his death. Hence, the tiger motif signified the power, strength
and supernatural forces of the Ba people.
Two chunyu drums bearing a similar tiger figure on top, but unornamented,
are illustrated in J. So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler
Collections, New York, 1995, pp. 399-405, nos. 82 and 83, the first dated 4th-3rd
century BC, the second late 3rd century BC. Another example is a Western Han
tiger-mounted chunyu in the Shaanxi History Museum Collection, China,
illustrated by Li Xixing in The Shaanxi Bronzes, Xi’an, 1994, p. 284.

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