拍賣筆記 vol.460 佳士得紐約2026：商晚期尹舟父癸青銅爵 - Christie’s New York, A Bronze Ritual Tripod Wine Vessel, Jue, Inscribed ‘Yin Zhou Fu Gui’, Shang Dynasty

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尹舟乃商代晚期不可忽視之重要族徽。帶尹舟銘文之青銅器約數十件，數量雖不算少，但細想則其實並不多。佳士得將銘文釋讀為「父癸舟尹」，實則當為「尹舟父癸」。商代銘文尚未形成固定行文範式，亦無先後次序之定式。此器銘文屢經著錄，實為一件重要之青銅爵。若能結合尹舟家族其他青銅器作系統調研與論述，或可進一步發掘其歷史價值；惜目前尚未見學者有此動力與閒情。近兩年爵類器物價格呈上升趨勢，有來源之爵百萬港元已屬基本起點；此器品相良好，若低於此價，則可謂「撿漏」。（SACA觀察，2026年9月14日）

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北美私人珍藏重要中國藝術

商晚期尹舟父癸青銅爵

LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH-11TH CENTURY BC

估價

美元 20,000 – 美元 30,000

銘文： 父癸舟尹

7 ½ in. (19 cm.) high, Japanese wood box

來源

黎氏古玩，香港，1992年4月7日

出版

于省吾，《商周金文錄遺》，北京，1957年，編號473

嚴一萍，《金文總集》，第6冊，臺北，1983年，編號4119

中國社會科學院考古研究所編，《殷周金文集成》，第14冊，北京，1984年，編號8967

Important Chinese Art from a North American Private Collection

A BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD WINE VESSEL, JUE

LATE SHANG DYNASTY, 12TH-11TH CENTURY BC

Estimate

USD 20,000 – USD 30,000

A four-character inscription is cast underneath the handle reading Fu Gui Zhou Yin, which may be translated as 'Maritime Official Father Gui'.

7 ½ in. (19 cm.) high, Japanese wood box

SACA Obervation

Yin Zhou (尹舟) is an important clan emblem of the late Shang dynasty that cannot be overlooked. Bronze vessels bearing the Yin Zhou inscription number only several dozen—by no means abundant. Christie’s reads the inscription as “Fu Gui Zhou Yin” (父癸舟尹); it should in fact be “Yin Zhou Fu Gui” (尹舟父癸). Shang inscriptions follow no fixed literary paradigm and therefore have no established sequential order. The inscription has been published on multiple occasions; this is an important bronze jue. A systematic study that places it alongside other bronzes of the Yin Zhou lineage would almost certainly unlock further historical value—yet no scholar has so far shown the motivation or the leisure to undertake it. Prices for jue have risen over the past two years; one million Hong Kong dollars is now the basic starting point for a piece with documented provenance. This jue is in good condition; anything below that figure would constitute a “bargain.”(SACA Observation, 14 September 2026)

PROVENANCE

Peter Lai Antiques, Hong Kong, 7 April 1992.

LITERATURE

Yu Shengwu, Shang Zhou jinwen luyi (Record of Shang and Zhou bronze inscriptions), Beijing, 1957, no. 473.

Yan Yiping, Jinwen Zongji (Corpus of Bronze Inscriptions), vol. 6, Taipei, 1983, no. 4119.

The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Yinzhou jinwen jicheng (Compendium of Yin and Zhou Bronze Inscriptions), vol. 14, Beijing, 1984, no. 8967.

The inscription cast under the handle of the present jue, read from top to bottom and right to left, may be transcribed as Fu Gui Zhou Yin (父癸舟尹). The first two characters, Fu Gui (父癸), are generally understood as an honorific title, in which Gui is a personal name, while Fu means father or ancestor, denoting a term of respect. The following two characters, Zhou Yin (舟尹), are comparatively uncommon. According to Cao Dazhi in Zuhui Neihan yu Shangdai de Guojia Jiegou (Clan Emblems and the Nature of the Shang State Structure), both Zhou and Yin may have functioned as clan signs. The character yin is generally associated with governance or official authority. It often served as a generic administrative designation which, when combined with another graph, could indicate a more specific sphere of responsibility. The character Zhou may be interpreted as an official connected with boats and waterways; together with Yin, these two characters may be understood as a form of “Maritime Official.”

The arrangement of the characters Zhou and Yin on the present jue is particularly unusual. Although Zhou and Yin frequently appear together, the more common configuration is Yin Zhou (尹舟), with Yin above and Zhou below. Yin Zhou Jinwen Jicheng, vol. 14, Beijing, 1984, no. 8967, notes that such combination may even be interpreted as a single graph. Bronze jue bearing the characters Yin Zhou include one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, inscribed Yin Zhou Fu Ding (尹舟父丁), and another in the Palace Museum, Beijing, inscribed Yin Zhou Fu Ji (尹舟父己). Unlike these single-line inscriptions, the present inscription is arranged in two columns. Moreover, whereas the two comparative vessels are decorated only with thin raised bowstring bands, the present jue is cast with taotie masks, making it a particularly distinctive and rare example.