Page 24 - The Meiji Aesthetic Christie's Hong Kong.pdf

Snake

The snake is one of the most suitable subjects for jizai sculpture given the naturalistic
fexibility and undulating qualities of its overlapping, jointed plates. Among the
many fne examples in museum collections are two Edo-period (1615–1868)
articulated snakes in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Kiyomizu
Sannenzaka Museum, Kyoto. Both are signed Myochin saku (made by Myochin),
a major metalworker whose name was adopted by a succession of Myochin artists.
Snakes by Myochin Muneyoshi are in the British Museum and Tokyo National
Museum.

In China, the snake has metaphorical and artistic allusions to the dragon. Like the
dragon, the snake has the power to bring rain, beneftting agriculture. If a snake
enters a house, it is said that the family will not want for food. By extension, the
snake represents wealth and fortune. People born in the Year of the Snake should be
good at business.

In Japanese culture, the snake is equally auspicious, symbolizing successful harvests
and fertility. In the feld, the snake eats mice and other pests. The molting nature
of the reptile suggests regeneration and immortality. Often seen at shrines and the
front doors of houses at the New Year, sacred ropes (shimenawa 注連縄) symbolize
sanctity and purity. The entwined and twisted form of the ropes derives from mating
snakes (fg. 1). Ugajin 宇賀神, the serpent guardian and fertility deity in Japanese
mythology, is often depicted with a snake body and a human head, and is also
worshipped for good fortune (fg. 2).

蛇

蛇伸縮自如，盤纏蜷伏，靈活敏捷，遍身鱗甲，形態特徵被擅於模仿動物轉
動的自在雕塑表現得淋漓盡致。倫敦維多利亞艾伯特美術館及京都清水三年
坂美術館各藏一 江戶時代罕例，皆銘款「明珍造」，藝術水平極高。大英
博物館及東京國立博物館皆藏有明珍宗義銘款佳作。明珍派為日本史上數一
數二之金銀巨匠，自在雕塑造詣精湛。

中國人視蛇為神聖之物，其寓意及藝術形象與龍頗有相通之處。蛇能呼風喚
雨，對農業耕作有所裨益。古人認為家蛇能盤福聚財，相信家宅有蛇乃吉祥
之兆。有說生肖屬蛇之人多擅長營商。
日本人認為蛇象徵土地饒沃，五耕豐收。蛇進食害蟲有助農作物收成，蜕皮
特質可象徵再生及延壽。日本神話中的宇賀神呈人首蛇身，據說有守衛及降
福之神力 (圖二)。象徵聖潔的日本神道教咒具「注連繩」貌似兩蛇交配，多
懸掛於神社拜殿簷下，或新年期間的民房正門 (圖一)。