Page 64 - 2020 Nov 30 Christie's Hong Kong Scholars Art Of China

2723 Continued
The Shang people believed they were descended from a black bird, thus
bird motifs were particularly popular on works of art from the Shang
dynasty, especially on bronzes and jade carvings.
The owl was a highly important motif in the art of the Shang dynasty.
It was represented in round sculptural forms in various media such as
jade, marble, and bronze. It also appeared as surface decoration on a
small group of important archaic bronzes. The style of carving of the
owl seen on the present ornament is very similar to a jade carving of
owl excavated from the tomb of Fu Hao at Anyang, illustrated in The
Jades from Yinxu, Beijing, 1981, no. 61. While the kui-dragon head
surmounting the owl is similarly found on other Shang jade carvings of
birds, such as a jade carving of a parrot also from the tomb of Fu Hao,
illustrated ibid., no. 43; a jade carving of a hawk excavated from tomb
M63 of the Jin Marquis mausoleum, Shanxi province, now in the Shanxi
Museum, and illustrated in Rare Treasure in Shanxi Museum, 2005, p.
77; and a jade bird-form pendant in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
illustrated in Great National Treasures of China: Masterworks in the
National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1983, p. 101, no. 49 (fig. 1).
在人類文明的發展進程中，古代一個民族或國家的崛起，常會以神話傳
說來敘述起源，商代亦不例外。詩經《商頌．玄鳥》中即寫道：
「天命玄鳥，降而生商。」商人以玄鳥為祖先，所以出土的青銅器及玉
器，鳥的造型就特別多。此件柄形器上，鶚的造型與刻工與婦好墓出
土之「怪鳥」如出一轍，見《殷墟玉器》，北京，1981年，圖61，而鶚
首上披戴的龍冠，與圖43「屈肢鸚鵡」頭頂著夔龍冠的意義相同；山西
博物院典藏的晉侯墓地63號墓商代遺物中的「商玉鷹」，見《山西博物
院珍萃》，頁77，及國立故宮博物院典藏的「玉鳥紋珮」，見《國之重
寶》，台北，1983年，頁101，圖49（圖一）也是同類型的精美之作。婦 fig. 1 Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei
好為武丁的三個配偶之一，婦好墓出土的玉器有大量的戈，可以推論在 圖一 國立故宮博物院藏品
商代母系社會中，婦好應手握兵權，能征善戰的女中豪傑。此件柄形器
鴞鳥頭戴龍冠的形式，就足以顯示這件玉器主人的身份和地位。

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