拍賣筆記 vol.406 蘇富比紐約2019：瓊肯三世，16.25萬美元售出，漢代銅鎏金鳳鳥/朱雀 - Sotheby’s NY 2019, Junkunc III, A Gilt-Bronze Figure Of A Phoenix, Han Dynasty, Sold for 162,500 USD

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漢 銅鎏金朱雀

估價：80,000 - 120,000 USD

已售出：162,500 USD

瓊肯：中國高古藝術 19 三月 2019 • 紐約

盧芹齋，紐約，1946年6月12日

史蒂芬•瓊肯三世（1978年逝）收藏

出版

〈Oak Park Resident Keeps Priceless Collection of Oriental Art in Bomb Shelter〉，《芝加哥論壇報》，1952年9月7日，部III，頁1

本品漢代銅鎏金朱雀極其珍罕，據記載並無相近作例可比，唯可參考一相類例，尺寸較小，斷代西漢，喙亦銜珠，攏翅，尾部刻畫更為細緻繁縟，曾展於《Ancient Chinese Bronzes》，J.J. Lally & Co.，紐約，2011年，編號20。 本品後部見一小孔，表明或曾有實用之處。朱雀，古時亦稱鳳凰，與青龍、白虎、玄武合稱四靈（又稱四象），常見於漢代裝飾。

參考一奩例，蓋頂飾銅鎏金鳳凰，斷代漢朝早期，曾展於水野清一，《天理参考館図錄》，奈良，1967年，圖版74；另比一銅朱雀例，振翅，1959年河北定縣北莊漢墓出土，載於〈定縣北莊漢墓出土文物簡報〉，《文物》，期12，圖版1，圖3，其標註為銅器蓋飾件；再比一類例，2003年山東省平度市六曲山出土，現藏於山東平度市博物館；尚有一例，尺寸較小，紋飾亦較簡，出土自河北省八丈村漢墓，現藏於河北滄州博物館。舊金山亞洲藝術博物館收藏一銅鎏金崁綠松石例，出自艾弗里•布倫戴奇收藏，該館標其為孔雀，載於 René-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argencé，《Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery Brundage Collection》，東京，1974年，編號16。

另比一漢代銅燈例，燈身作朱雀振翅狀，尾部上翹，喙銜圓形油盤，河北省滿城漢墓出土，載於《滿城漢墓發掘報告》，冊下，北京，1980年，圖版XXIV，同文並載一嵌寶銅鎏金朱雀銜環盃例，圖版XXV；再比一例，漢代綠釉陶燈，燈盤上塑朱雀，作振翅飛翔狀，喙亦銜珠，載於水野清一，前述出處，圖版171。

Lot 122. An extremely rare gilt-bronze figure of a phoenix, Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). Length 5 1/4  in., 13.4 cm. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 USD. Lot Sold 162,500 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

solidly cast, the mythical bird cast standing with its wings folded back against its body and its tail fanned out behind it in five broad plumes, the head held high and clasping a 'pearl' in its open beak, the face with bulging eyes beneath a crested crown, the sturdy legs terminating in large upturned talons, the surface incised with feather markings, with an circular loop to the back of the neck, wood stand (2).

Provenance: C.T. Loo, New York, 12th June 1946.

Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). 

Literature: 'Oak Park Resident Keeps Priceless Collection of Oriental Art in Bomb Shelter',  Chicago Tribune, 7th September 1952, part III, p. 1. 

Note: The present Han dynasty gilt-bronze phoenix is extremely rare, and no close counterparts appear to be recorded. Although a related gilt-bronze phoenix of a slightly smaller size from the Western Han dynasty, also holding a pearl in its beak and with its wings folded, but with a more elaborate tail, was included in the exhibition Ancient Chinese Bronzes, J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 2011, cat. no. 20. 

The small aperture at the back of the bird suggests it once had a functional use. As one of the Four Divine Animals - along with the dragon, tiger, and turtle - the phoenix, sometimes referred as zhuque ('Vermilion Bird') in Chinese tradition, was one of the popular subjects for ornamental uses during the Han dynasty.

See a related early Han dynasty gilt-bronze phoenix, serving as the finial on the cover of a lian, published in Seiichi Mizuno, Tenri Sankōkan zuroku [Collection from Tenri Sankokan], Nara, 1967, pl. 74; one with its wings spread, excavated from a Han dynasty tomb near Ding county, Hebei province in 1959, published in 'Dingxian Beizhuang Hanmu chutu wenwu jianbao [A summarized report on the cultural relics excavated from the Han tomb in Beizhuang, Ding county], Wenwu, no. 12, 1964, pl. 1, fig. 3, where it is captioned as an ornamental object for a cover; one similarly modeled with a stocky build, excavated from a Han tomb in Liuqu mountain, Pingdu city, Shandong province in 2003, now in the Pingdu City Museum, Shandong; another of a smaller size and simpler design, excavated from a Han tomb in Bazhang village, Hebei province, now in the Cangzhou Museum, Hebei. See also a gilt-bronze bird with turquoise inlay, catalogued as a peacock, formerly in the Avery Brundage Collection, now in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, published in René-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argencé, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Sculpture in the Avery Brundage Collection, Tokyo, 1974, no. 16.

Compare also a Han dynasty bronze lamp, made in the form of a phoenix with its wings spread and tail curled upward, grasping between its beak a circular oil tray, excavated from the Han tomb in Mancheng, Hebei province, published in Mancheng Hanmu fajue baogao [Excavation report of the Han tomb in Mancheng], vol. 2, Beijing, 1980, pl. XXIV, together with an elaborate hardstone-inlaid gilt-bronze twin cup, made with a phoenix standing in the middle, pl. XXV; and another Han green-glazed pottery lamp, decorated with a phoenix similarly modelled holding a pearl in its beaks, published in Seiichi Mizuno, op cit., pl. 171.

Sotheby's. Junkunc: Arts of Ancient China, New York, 19 march 2019, 10:00 AM