拍賣筆記 vol.88 蘇富比紐約：史蒂芬•瓊肯、盧芹齋，戰國銅錯金銀瑞獸紋環，10.795萬美元售出 - Junkunc III, C.T.Loo Late Warring States period gold and silver-inlaid bronze disc
- SACA
- Mar 10
- 12 min read
Updated: Mar 18
427號牌，10.795萬美元售出。本品原本雖為配飾，然而單獨欣賞，自有其美，可感受中國千載藝術傳統之深遠，令人聯想起新石器時代玉璧禮器。高古玉壁，無論清代皇帝，或當代收藏家均珍而重之，而細觀本環，彷彿能聽得古韻，而環身紋飾鮮明靈動如光流轉，生氣盎然，令人神往。
戰國晚期 / 西漢 銅錯金銀瑞獸紋環
A COLLECTING JOURNEY: THE JANE AND LEOPOLD SWERGOLD COLLECTION
2025 March 18, 09:00 PM HKT
Sotheby’s New York
估價：50,000 - 70,000 USD
Diameter 6⅝ in., 16.8 cm
狀況報告
One section restuck with two old repairs. Short, stable, 2.7 cm stress crack extending from edge into disc, with associated small loss at edge. Expected small losses at edge of the ring, mostly to one side. Areas of green and blue encrustation to the back of the ring, with some small areas of green patination to the front at the inside edge. One area of loss to the silver inlay, and expected wear to the silver and gold inlay overall.
出處
Robert Woods（1875-1962）及 Mildred Barnes（1879-1969）Bliss 伉儷收藏
盧芹齋，紐約，1959年4月13日
史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏
紐約佳士得2000年9月21日，編號178
著錄
喜龍仁，《中國早期藝術史》，卷二，巴黎及布魯塞爾，1929年，圖版46A
梅原末治，《日本蒐儲支那古銅精華》，卷四，大阪，1933年，圖版56
喜仁龍，《Kinas Konst under Tre Årtusenden》，斯德哥爾摩，1943年，圖125
展出
《Chinesische Kunst》，普魯士藝術學院，柏林，1929年，編號29
《中國藝術國際展覽會》，英國皇家藝術學院，倫敦，1935-36年，編號385
圖錄說明
此環飾極其珍罕，華貴秀麗，飾盤旋龍紋、翼紋及雲紋，為銅錯金銀工藝鼎盛時期傑作，紋飾深淺與質感均展現藝匠巧思，環面錯金銀工藝卓絕，構圖佈局流暢生動，紋飾似於環周起伏律動，工藝精緻入微，誠為臻品。
公元前三世紀之交，農業及軍事技術發展迅速，周王朝逐漸衰亡，各諸侯財力與權勢均日益強大，戰國及隨後秦漢各朝為展示威權富貴，爭相鑄造工藝精美之銅器，用於祭祀儀式等重要場合。多件銅錯金銀器，出土於洛陽以東金村，以及與周朝君主無關連之遺址，例如河南輝縣魏國貴族墓地、河北平山縣中山王墓及湖北楚墓等。此類器富麗精巧、創思曾出，其後千年罕有能出其右者，此瑞獸紋環即此中佳例。比較一件銅錯金銀劍首作例，風格相近，曾售於香港蘇富比2022年10月9日，編號3612，珍稀罕有，成交價逾五百萬港元 。
百餘年間，曾得見此環之學者及收藏家均為之驚嘆。1912年，Robert Woods Bliss與夫人Wildred Barnes Bliss於巴黎開始收藏中國藝術，後於美國華盛頓特區郊外購置敦巴頓橡園，珍藏如本品之精品，集成收藏矚目全球，傲視同儕。1929年，此環曾借展柏林藝術學院《中國藝術展》，1935-1936年又展於倫敦皇家美術學院《國際中國藝術展》，引起漢學名家注意。學者如梅原末治（1893-1983年）與Osvald Sirén（1879-1966年）皆曾研究此器，嘗試為古器斷代並考究其用途，均未作定論，僅描述為「器物邊緣」或「破片」，然而一致讚賞此環包漿滑熟幽黑、銅藍斑駁，錯金銀彩紋明麗，內其時工藝巔峰之作，後入史蒂芬·瓊肯三世及簡與Swergold伉儷珍藏，來源顯赫，珍罕絕倫。
此環用途現時未能考證，然而憑其紋飾單面、外緣粗糙及華麗幾何紋飾，或可推測為器物之緣飾，或為漆器或其他有機材質。可參考一例，1988年廣州南越(公元前137-124 在位)王墓出土之銅錯金環，見《西漢南越王墓（下）》，北京，1991年，圖版CXXVI；另有兩錯金銀作例，曾借展紐約大都會博物館，現藏於日本Miho美術館，見《Miho美術館藏品集：南翼》，甲賀，1997年，圖版99。此類金屬飾件或為原配漆器特製，漆器上飾相同黑、紅、金彩紋，比較舊金山亞洲藝術博物館藏一例，漆筒連錯銀配飾，見《海外遺珍：漆器》，台北故宮博物院，1987年，圖版8；再比長沙馬王堆漢墓出土保存完好之漆器，龍雲紋與本環紋飾相近，見Joanna Waley-Cohen譯〈 馬王堆漢墓漆器〉，《東方陶瓷學會譯文集》，卷11，香港，1984年。
本品原本雖為配飾，然而單獨欣賞，自有其美，可感受中國千載藝術傳統之深遠，令人聯想起新石器時代玉璧禮器。高古玉壁，無論清代皇帝，或當代收藏家均珍而重之，而細觀本環，彷彿能聽得古韻，而環身紋飾鮮明靈動如光流轉，生氣盎然，令人神往。
以下是針對「戰國晚期 / 西漢 銅錯金銀瑞獸紋環」的繁體中文常見問答，供國際學者參考：
1. 「戰國晚期 / 西漢 銅錯金銀瑞獸紋環」是什麼？它的意義為何？
「戰國晚期 / 西漢 銅錯金銀瑞獸紋環」是一件極為稀有且精緻的青銅器，展示了當時銅錯工藝與金銀嵌飾技術的巔峰。文物以嵌有金、銀的瑞獸圖案為特色，象徵吉祥與權威，反映了戰國晚期及西漢初期諸侯國權勢與財富的增長。它不僅是藝術與技術高度融合的實證，也是研究古代社會變革及文化交流的重要實物。
2. 此件文物的原始用途可能為何？
雖然具體用途尚無定論，但根據其單面裝飾、邊緣處理及幾何構圖，學者推測該銅錯紋環可能原先作為漆器或其他有機材質器物的裝飾性配件，起到固定與美化的作用。與同時期其他銅錯配件的發現相呼應，原作中的有機材料可能因時光流逝而已不復存。
3. 製作這件銅錯金銀瑞獸紋環所用的材料和技術為何？
此文物主要以青銅為基材，並利用金銀嵌飾技法呈現精細的瑞獸圖案。嵌飾技法要求工匠具備極高的銅器鑄造與金屬處理技術，充分展現了戰國晚期及西漢初期在金屬藝術與裝飾工藝方面的創新與卓越。
4. 關於該文物的歷史與來源，目前有哪些已知資訊？
該銅錯紋環的流傳歷史較為清晰：最初由Robert Woods Bliss與Mildred Barnes Bliss於1912年在巴黎購得，隨後於1929年在柏林及1935至1936年在倫敦的主要展覽中展出，吸引了眾多漢學專家的關注。此後，文物曾先後歸屬Stephen Junkunc III，並由Jane與Leopold Swergold收藏，成為多位知名藝術史學家研究與刊印的重要對象。
5. 目前該文物的保存狀況如何？
保存狀況報告顯示，該紋環曾經進行過數次修復。目前，文物部分邊緣存在局部磨損與細微裂痕，且可見歷史修復痕跡；青銅表面呈現自然的綠銹現象，而嵌入的金銀部分亦出現了一定程度的磨損。整體狀態被認為相對穩定，仍能展現其藝術與歷史價值。
6. 該文物與其他戰國晚期及西漢時期的文物相比有何異同？
在銅器嵌飾藝術上，該銅錯紋環屬於極高水準。其精緻的瑞獸圖案與金銀嵌飾技法在同時期青銅器中顯得尤為突出，展示了豐富的藝術風格及工藝創新。與戰國晚期及西漢時期其他文物相比，此件文物不僅技法精妙，更體現了當時社會對權勢與吉祥象徵的追求，因而成為該時期藝術研究的重要參照。
7. 藝術史學家與收藏家如何評價此件文物？
多位藝術史學家（如梅原佑治與奧斯瓦爾德·西倫等）對此銅錯紋環進行了深入研究與描繪，普遍讚譽其藝術價值與稀有性。儘管在文物的精確年代與用途上尚有爭議，但專家們一致認為，該紋環代表了當時銅器工藝與金銀嵌飾技術的極致成果，亦因其獨特美學而受到收藏家的高度青睞。
8. 該文物與後續各朝代藝術品存在哪些相似之處？
儘管此銅錯紋環屬於戰國晚期及西漢初期，但其圓形設計與精美裝飾與後世多種藝術品有著相似的美學風格。例如，其圓形構造與歷代所珍視的玉璧有著內在聯繫，而瑞獸圖案則在漢代及後續各朝代的藝術創作中屢見不鮮，體現了中華文化中對祥瑞、權威及吉慶象徵的傳承與發揚。
Junkunc III, C.T.Loo Late Warring States period gold and silver-inlaid bronze disc
Description
Diameter 6⅝ in., 16.8 cm
Condition Report
One section restuck with two old repairs. Short, stable, 2.7 cm stress crack extending from edge into disc, with associated small loss at edge. Expected small losses at edge of the ring, mostly to one side. Areas of green and blue encrustation to the back of the ring, with some small areas of green patination to the front at the inside edge. One area of loss to the silver inlay, and expected wear to the silver and gold inlay overall.
Provenance
Collection of Robert Woods (1875-1962) and Mildred Barnes (1879-1969) Bliss.
C.T. Loo, New York, 13th April 1959.
Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).
Christie's New York, 21st September 2000, lot 178.
Literature
Osvald Sirén, Histoire des Arts Anciens de la Chine. Volume II: L'époque Han et les Six Dynasties [History of the Ancient Art of China: Vol II: The Han Periods and the Six Dynasties], Paris and Brussel, 1929, pl. 46A.
Umehara Sueji, Shina Kodo Seika / Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Europe and America, vol. I, Osaka, 1933, pl. 56.
Osvald Sirén, Kinas Konst under tre Årtusenden [Chinese Art through Three Millennia], Stockholm, 1942, fig. 125.
Exhibited
Chinesische Kunst [Chinese Art], Preussische Akademie de Künste, Berlin, 1929, cat. no. 29.
International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-36, cat. no. 385.
Catalogue Note
THE PRESENT LOT ILLUSTRATED IN CATALOGUE OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF CHINESE ART, ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS, LONDON, 1935-36, CAT. NO. 385.
本拍品錄於《中國藝術國際展覽會》，英國皇家藝術學院，倫敦，1935-36年，編號385
Adorned with a swirling wave of dragons and wings and clouds, the present disc is an exceptionally rare and magnificent example of inlaid bronze from the height of its production. With careful consideration for depth and texture, the ancient artisan has rendered the disc with extraordinary precision, selectively employing gold and silver inlay in bold fluid strokes across the surface of the piece, producing a dynamic design that seems to roll around the entire perimeter.
As the kings of Zhou began to lose their grip on power with advancements in agricultural and military technology around the third century BCE, feudal states and their leaders began to grow ever wealthier and more powerful. Turning to craftsmanship and artistic masterpieces as a manifestation of this power, leaders of the Warring States (475-221 BCE) and ensuing Qin and Han (206 BCE-220 CE) dynasties commissioned the production of increasingly intricate and spellbinding bronze vessels for use in official rites and burial ceremonies. Sophisticated bronzes, delicately inlaid in gold and silver, have now been recovered from tombs in Jincun, the site of the Eastern Capital at Luoyang, as well as from burial sites unrelated to the Zhou kings, including the tombs of the ruling nobles of Wei in Huixian, Henan, the tombs of the Zhongshan kings at Pingcheng, Henan, and the tombs of the Chu state in Hubei province. These vessels – the present disc certainly included – possess a creative flair, opulent grandeur, and mastery of inlay arguably never surpassed in the following millennia. Compare a stylistically related and similarly unique sword hilt from this lavish period, sold in our Hong Kong rooms for well over five million Hong Kong dollars, 9th October 2022, lot 3612.
The present disc has continued to captivate, puzzle and inspire scholars and collectors for over a century. Beginning their collecting journeys in Paris in 1912, Robert Woods Bliss and his wife Wildred Barnes Bliss soon became enamored with Chinese art. Purchasing their home, Dumbarton Oaks, on the outskirts of Washington D.C., the couple continued to expand their collection with pieces like the present, into one of the most extensive and celebrated of its kind. Loaning the present disc to both the exhibition of Chinesiche Kunst at the Berlin Akademie der Künste in 1929 and the world-renowned International Exhibition of Chinese Art at the Royal Academy of Arts, London in 1935-6, the Bliss family revealed this masterpiece to a global audience and before long, caught the attention of the world’s leading sinologists. From Umehara Sueji (1893-1983) to Osvald Sirén (1879-1966), prominent art historians across the world have illustrated and debated the dating and purpose of this remarkable piece. While refusing to make any final judgment, opting instead for the nebulous designation of ‘vessel rim’ or ‘fragment,’ each scholar nonetheless agreed that this piece, glowing in a vibrant palate of patinated black, cuprite blue, gold and silver, was a masterpiece of its time– a rare and exceptional treasure. Most recently treasured by the renowned collector Stephen Junkunc, III and, finally, in the care of Jane and Leopold Swergold, this piece’s beauty and rarity is matched only by its illustrious provenance.
While the initial purpose of this disc is likely now lost forever to the sands of time, its single-sided decoration, rough outer edge and grand geometric design all support the theory that it once acted as a rim to an organic, probably lacquered, vessel that has long since degraded. Compare a related gold-inlaid rim excavated in 1988 from the tomb of the King of Nanyue (r. 137-124 BCE) in modern day Guangzhou, illustrated in Xi Han Nanyue Wang mu [Tomb of the Western Han King of Nanyue], vol. II, Beijing, 1991, pl. CXXVI; and two related gold-and-silver-inlaid vessel mounts formerly on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and now preserved in the Miho Museum, Koka, in Collection of the Miho Museum: The South Wing, Koka, 1997, pl. 99. These metal mounts appear to have been purpose-made for accompanying lacquer vessels, decorated with identical motifs in black, red and gold. Compare a cylindrical lacquer vessel preserved with matching silver-inlaid fittings in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in Hai-Wai Yi-Chen. Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Lacquerware, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1987, pl. 8; and the almost perfectly preserved lacquer wares excavated from the lavishly decorated Han tombs at Mawangdui, Changsha, decorated with very closely related motifs of swirling dragons and clouds – see Joanna Waley-Cohen, trans., ‘The Lacquers of the Mawangdui Tomb’, Oriental Ceramic Society Translations, no. 11, Hong Kong, 1984.
While almost certainly not its initial purpose, the present lot’s appearance as a grand and solitary disc brings with it new-found associations, deep-rooted in the Chinese artistic tradition. Bringing to mind the jade bi discs of antiquity, long treasured by neolithic shamans, Qing emperors and contemporary collectors alike, the present disc whispers of antiquity while its bright and vibrant decoration still whirls with life.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Warring States Bronze Disc
What is the Warring States Bronze Disc and what is its significance?
The Warring States Bronze Disc is a rare and magnificent example of inlaid bronze craftsmanship from the late Warring States period in China (roughly 3rd century BCE). It features swirling designs of dragons, wings, and clouds inlaid with gold and silver. Its significance lies in its artistic quality, the sophistication of the metalworking techniques employed, and its reflection of the growing power and wealth of feudal states during a period of dynastic transition. It represents a peak in bronze artistry that was arguably never surpassed.
What was the likely original purpose of the bronze disc?
The exact original purpose remains uncertain. However, based on its single-sided decoration, rough outer edge, and geometric design, scholars theorize it likely served as a decorative rim or mount for an organic vessel, probably made of lacquer. Examples of similar metal fittings found with lacquerware from the same period support this hypothesis. The lacquer itself would have degraded over time.
What materials and techniques were used to create the disc?
The disc is primarily made of bronze. The defining feature is the use of gold and silver inlay to create the decorative patterns. This involved carefully embedding the precious metals into the bronze surface. The creation of these inlays required advanced metalworking skills and showcases the artistry of the period.
What is known about the disc's history and provenance?
The disc has a well-documented history, having been part of several prominent collections. It was first owned by Robert Woods Bliss and Mildred Barnes Bliss, who acquired it in Paris in 1912. They displayed it in major exhibitions in Berlin (1929) and London (1935-36), bringing it to the attention of leading sinologists. It later belonged to Stephen Junkunc III and then to Jane and Leopold Swergold. The disc has been studied and published by renowned art historians.
What condition is the bronze disc currently in?
The condition report indicates that the disc has undergone some repairs and shows signs of age. One section has been restuck with two old repairs, and there's a short, stable stress crack with a small loss at the edge. There are minor losses along the edges, mostly concentrated on one side. The back of the disc exhibits areas of green and blue encrustation, while the front has some green patination. There is also some loss and expected wear to the gold and silver inlay.
How does this bronze disc compare to other artifacts from the Warring States period?
The bronze disc is a prime example of the opulent and creative artistry characteristic of the Warring States period and subsequent Qin and Han dynasties. These dynasties are known for intricate bronze vessels commissioned by rulers to showcase their power and wealth. Similar gold and silver inlaid artifacts have been found in tombs of nobles and rulers from this period. The disc's artistry is considered exceptionally high compared to other pieces from that era.
How has the disc been interpreted by art historians and collectors?
Art historians such as Umehara Sueji and Osvald Sirén have studied and illustrated the disc, recognizing its artistic merit and rarity. While they debated its precise dating and function, they consistently praised its craftsmanship and the vibrant interplay of patinated bronze, gold, and silver. Collectors have long admired the disc for its beauty, historical significance, and the skill demonstrated in its creation.
What similarities exist between this bronze disc and artifacts from later dynasties?
While the disc itself dates to the Warring States period, its form and decoration echo certain artistic traditions of later Chinese dynasties. For example, the circular shape evokes jade bi discs, ritual objects treasured throughout Chinese history. Also, the dragon and cloud motifs found on the disc appear in other artforms from subsequent dynasties, particularly lacquerware from the Han Dynasty.
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