拍賣筆記 vol.264 莫幹生、莫慶堯收藏：青銅三足鼎，蘇富比2018年300萬港元，2025年780萬港元成交 - An archaic bronze ritual food vessel (Ding), Mok Family Collection, Sold in Sotheby’s 2018 for 3m HKD, 2025 for 762,000 GBP

7年翻倍，跑贏通脹，買賣家雙贏。本品蘇富比倫敦2025年11月5日拍賣，估價60-100萬英鎊。蘇富比資料顯示，這件作品是臨時進口英國參加拍賣，所以有VAT稅收的優惠。此前在2018年被標注為明代，拍出300萬港元，此番長途跋涉送到倫敦，皮殼重新清洗，改訂商代-西周時代。目前拍賣市場以香港最為火爆，買家大多以中國大陸、港澳台地區為主，此番特地送到英倫，目標客戶是誰？

This piece is scheduled to be auctioned at Sotheby’s London on November 5, 2025, with an estimate of £600,000–1,000,000. According to Sotheby’s, it has been imported into the United Kingdom under a temporary admission scheme, which allows for VAT relief. Previously catalogued as Ming dynasty and sold for HKD 3 million in 2018, it is now reattributed to the Shang–Western Zhou period after being consigned to London following a long journey from Asia.

At present, the most active market for Chinese works of art remains in Hong Kong, where the majority of buyers are from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. The decision to send this piece to London therefore raises an interesting question: who are the intended buyers in this case?

商末 / 西周初 青銅饕餮紋鼎

VAT reduced rate

拍賣開始

November 5, 06:30 PM HKT

估價

600,000 - 1,000,000 GBP

描述

配紫檀座及蓋(4)

Height 47 cm, 18½ in.

Overall height 70 cm, 27½ in. with stand and cover

狀況報告

出處

莫幹生 (1882-1958）收藏

莫慶堯（1923-2010）收藏

香港蘇富比2018年5月30日，編號459

展出

《澄懷古今：莫家三代珍藏》，中文大學文物館，香港，2009年，頁40-41

本青銅鼎乃商末或西周初期禮器，重要而且罕有，見證華夏遠古文化之鼎盛，自古代被發現以來一直備受珍重。鼎身鑄獸面紋，編制宏大，傲視同類私人收藏作例。此器承傳有緒，為顯赫藏家所珍，清代藏家配之以紫檀座及蓋，兩者均屬御製精工，後復為收藏名家莫幹生（1882–1958年）所藏。

比較一青銅鼎例，器形紋飾相近，清宮舊藏，尺寸略小，現藏台北故宮博物院，圖載《故宮商代青銅禮器圖錄》，台北，1998年，圖版17（圖1），斷代安陽晚期。由於該例及本品均經清代宮廷作坊處理，手法相近，故此該例包漿紋理與本鼎亦甚相近。

高古青銅器之黑色包漿，深為清代宮廷所重，尤得乾隆皇帝青睞。其色澤瑩潤如水晶美玉，展示銅器歷史久遠，並彰顯其來源顯赫。如此黑色包漿亦稱「黑漆古」，屬於錫質厚積鏽層，乃合金中含錫量高，加之墓中濕潤與酸性環境，經歷千載而成。發現於自清代或以前之同類青銅重器，皆以熱蠟塗護，以增其黑漆古光澤，並穩固表層，使之更顯瑩潤如玉，同時保存其歷史積澱之斑駁色澤與附於表面之物質。此鼎與台北故宮所藏作例，器面紋理與漆古相符，故可推斷皆經此法處理。另可參考一高古青銅鼎例，亦為清宮舊藏，並帶黑漆古包漿，西周晚期至春秋早期製，曾屬費念慈（1855–1905）、劉體智（1879–1962）、吳權博士（1910–1997）舊藏，售於2022年3月22日紐約蘇富比拍賣，編號6。

另比一鼎，尺寸龐大，相傳來自洛陽，現藏東京出光美術館，載於《中国の工芸：出光美術館蔵品図録》，東京，1989年，圖版1（圖2）。可與本品相比者，鮮見於藝術市場，另一例原屬徐展堂珍藏，後入Alice與Pierre Uldry伉儷收藏，曾售於紐約佳士得1997年3月20日，編號38，圖載埃斯卡納齊，薛好佩整理，《中國藝術品經眼錄：埃斯卡納齊的回憶》，倫敦，2012年，圖版5（圖3）。該鼎後由Uldry收藏捐贈予蘇黎世Rietberg Museum永久展覽。

此鼎雄碩渾厚，器腹深圓，器足厚重，獸目鼓凸，威攝震人。紋飾線條清晰銳利，保存完好，彰顯殷商時期青銅工藝高超技術及創意。商代銅器多以塊範法鑄造，銅匠製模後將紋飾直接刻於「範」，再以「範」鑄件，所成青銅器紋飾細緻繁複，對稱和諧，線條流暢俐落。此法並可免卻澆注後再冷作加工，紋飾因而加倍銳利挺拔。

鼎乃中國青銅時代重器，象徵正統皇權。傳說夏禹平定九州，鑄九鼎為疆土象徵。其形制肇自新石器時期陶製三足器皿，歷數世紀演變不輟。 青銅鼎盛行於商周二朝，當時在祭祀儀式中用以盛煮食物，多例出土自皇室墓穴，殷墟婦好墓曾出土二十六件青銅鼎。

此鼎雄渾厚重，編制龐大，三足作收腰柱形，足部飾獸面與棱線，鼎腹渾圓，有兩耳，環飾獸面及棱線，帶雙耳。鼎連精美紫檀蓋，蓋身浮雕如意紋，蓋頂並飾玉鈕，玉鈕巧雕雙龍戲珠。此鼎配紫檀木座，雕工精巧，製作準繩。紫檀蓋及座皆製於清宮御作坊，所耗珍貴木材甚多，彌足珍貴。玉鈕則可斷代明朝，極爲貴重，以此裝飾寳鼎，尤顯華麗氣派。

本鼎原屬莫幹生 (1882-1958) 收藏，莫氏乃太古洋行最後一任總買辦（1931 年辭任），後以其愛國資本家及慈善家身份爲人稱頌。他曾任多項要職，包括九龍巴士有限公司、啟德營業有限公司、永安公司董事等。其藝術收藏齋名「花瓷閣」，清代御瓷藏品於二十世紀初享譽廣東及香港，所居干德道41號大宅「Fair View」1911年落成，擁有香港首部私人電梯。辛亥革命前獲清政府任命奉直大夫（官至正五品）。其後收藏釋出，包括宮廷御藏珍品，本鼎或於該時購得。

A monumental and extremely rare archaic bronze ritual food vessel (Ding)

Late Shang / early Western Zhou dynasty

VAT reduced rate

Session begins in

November 5, 06:30 PM HKT

Estimate

600,000 - 1,000,000 GBP

fitted zitan stand and cover (4)

Height 47 cm, 18½ in.

Overall height 70 cm, 27½ in. with stand and cover

Provenance

Collection of Mok Kon Sang (1882-1958).

Collection of Mok Hing Yiu (1923-2010).

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 30th May 2018, lot 459.

Exhibited

Timeless Legacy: The Mok Family Collections, The Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2009, pp 40-41.

Catalogue Note

This important and extremely rare ritual bronze vessel, created in the late Shang or early Western Zhou period and highly treasured since its discovery in antiquity, is truly monumental in size; a legacy of the glory of ancient China. Powerfully cast with ferocious taotie masks and incomparable in size to others in private hands, it has an illustrious history from the Qing dynasty, where it was adorned with a zitan stand and cover of Imperial quality, and later preserved in the illustrious collection of Mok Kon Sang (1882-1958).

The present ding shares the same form and decoration with another archaic bronze ding of slightly smaller size from the Qing Court Collection, preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 1998, pl. 17 (fig. 1), where it is ascribed to the late Anyang period. It also shares the same texture of the patina as on the present bronze, the result of similar treatment at the Qing court.

During the Qing dynasty, the black patina on ancient bronzes was highly coveted at the Imperial court, including by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1795) himself. This black patina, described as glossy and smooth with a texture ‘shiny like lacquer and crystalline as jade,’ indicated both the object's antiquity and its remarkable more recent origins. Referred to as qi gu ('lacquer ancient'), the ancient black patina on archaic bronzes is a durable, tin-rich corrosion layer that forms under specific conditions over millennia, due to the high tin content of the alloy and environmental factors (dampness and acidity) in the tomb. 

Important vessels such as the present ding, discovered during and before the Qing dynasty, were treated with hot wax to enhance the black patina, stabilise the surface and deepen its polished jade-like quality, while retaining the colour variations and deposits formed from its long history. Both the present ding and the National Palace Museum example were clearly treated in the same way, as the texture and patina on the surface so clearly matches. For another example of an archaic bronze ritual ding vessel with similar Qing dynasty provenance and ‘black’ patina appearing at auction, see a late Western Zhou / early Spring and Autumn period example from the collections of Fei Nianci (1855-1905), Liu Tizhi (1879-1962) and Dr Wou Kiuan (1910-1997), sold in our New York rooms, 22nd March 2022, lot 6.

Another closely related monumental ding vessel, reputedly from Luoyang, is preserved in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, 1989, pl. 1 (fig. 2). The only other ding of comparable stature ever to come to market is the example originally from the collections of T. T. Tsui and Alice and Pierre Uldry, sold at Christie’s New York, 20th March 1997, lot 38, and illustrated in Giuseppe Eskenazi in collaboration with Hajni Elias, A Dealer's Hand: The Chinese Art World Through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi, London, 2012, pl. 5 (fig. 3). This closely related ding was donated from the Uldry Collection to the Rietberg Museum, Zurich, where it is now on permanent display.

This impressive vessel has an imposing profile, achieved through its deep form, powerful thick legs and dramatic zoomorphic masks with prominent bulging eyes. The sharp-edged crispness of the design and its notable level of preservation, evidence the Shang caster’s technological sophistication and bold creativity. The piece-mould method, preferred by Shang casters and used for making this vessel, allowed craftsmen to showcase their virtuosity and create ever more complex but coherent designs by carving directly into the clay mould. This technique also eliminated the need to alter the decoration by cold-working the metal after the initial pour, thus ensuring it retained its striking sharpness.

Ding are among the most significant products of the Bronze Age in China, associated with royal power and authority and legitimacy to the throne. According to legend, King Yu, founder of the Xia dynasty, cast nine large bronze ding, one for each of the nine provinces in his kingdom. This form, which continuously evolved over the centuries, was derived from pottery tripod vessels made as early as the Neolithic period. Used during ritual ceremonies as food or cooking vessels, ding were very popular among Shang and Zhou dynasty elite and large numbers have been found in royal tombs. The tomb of Fu Hao (d. ca. 1200 BCE) in Anyang, for example, contained over twenty-six vessels of this type.

The perfectly proportioned zitan stand and cover are Qing dynasty creations of Imperial workshop standard, and no expense has been spared in the substantial amount of precious zitan material used. The jade finial itself, dating to the Ming period, would itself have been an object of high veneration and value, a luxurious artefact utilised to decorate the cover of this important vessel.

Mok Kon Sang (1882-1958), the original owner of the present bronze, was the last Chief Comprador for the British trading house Butterfield & Swire, resigning in 1931 to lead a successful career as a patriot capitalist and philanthropist. He founded the Kowloon Motor Bus Company, the Kai Tak Land Company, and The Wing On Company amongst many others. His Huaci Ge (‘Chamber of Colourful Porcelain’) collection of Qing Imperial porcelain was renowned in Guangdong and Hong Kong in the early 20th century. His residence, ‘Fairview’ at 41 Conduit Road, complete in 1911, had the first private elevator in Hong Kong. He was appointed Grand Master for Forthright Service by the Qing government (Mandarin fifth rank) before the 1911 revolution. Amidst the dispersal of important collections including part of the Imperial collection, it is likely that the present bronze was acquired at this time.