商代雕蛙，僅以寥寥幾何線條，於大理石塊上精準表現動物形象，淺浮雕搭配刻線簡顯表達強而有力的後腿，極簡有勁，巧琢圓孔點睛，炯炯有神，屬於存世極罕的一批高古雕塑，象徵中國雕塑藝術之初曙。
全世界僅有三枚，而Richard C.Bull形容其為「Brancusi都會喜歡的雕塑」，令其貫穿古今，可謂增值不少。這件器物在拍賣的時候引起激烈討論，就連對古代藝術平時沒興趣的朋友們，也紛紛盛讚。
時隔兩年，高古市場逐漸回暖，而談到商代的雕刻，從這隻可愛的蛙開始，神秘、特殊、直接。
日本顯赫收藏 商 大理石雕蛙
Auction Closed
October 9, 06:57 PM HKT
Estimate
3,000,000 - 4,000,000 HKD
Lot Sold
28,810,000 HKD
將近十倍低估價成交，藝術品的溢價魅力
25.8 by 17 by h. 12 cm
Provenance
Eskenazi Ltd, London, 1991.
埃斯卡納齊，倫敦，1991年
寶榜文章：
一槌藝術文章：《2800万的商代石蛙又现苏富比纽约？》
下載PDF：
FIG. 1
A MARBLE FIGURE OF A FROG (22.8 BY 16.5 BY H. 14.6 CM), PRE-ANYANG. COLLECTION OF RICHARD C. BULL, PHILADELPHIA, AFTER ALFRED SALMONY, 'A PRE-ANYANG MARBLE SCULPTURE', ARTIBUS ASIAE, VOL. 20, NO. 4, 1957, PP. 239-40.
圖一
商 前安陽時期 大理石雕蛙（22.8 X 16.5 X 高14.6公分） RICHARD BULL 舊藏，費城 出處：ALFRED SALMONY，〈A PRE-ANYANG MARBLE SCULPTURE〉，《ARTIBUS ASIAE》，卷20，第4期，1957年，頁239-40
現知相類蛙形雕塑有二，商中期：其一出自 Richard Bull 舊藏，1983年12月6日售於紐約蘇富比，編號244；另一例亦售於紐約蘇富比，1982年11月19日，編號88。前者刊於 Alfred Salmony，〈A pre-Anyang Marble Sculpture〉，《Artibus Asiae》，卷20，第4期，1957年，頁239-40（圖一）。作者論此類雕塑應比安陽時期更早，安陽風格更加寫實，並常見細刻幾何或獸形紋飾於上，然而他例為蛙類身軀搭配大形羽翼，無法明確歸類其屬。收藏家 Bull 曾述，此蛙形雕塑乃眾多藏品中的最愛，是「布朗庫西也會喜歡的前安陽時期大理石雕蛙」。
FIG. 2
A STONE CICADA (13.8 CM), SHANG DYNASTY, AFTER TOMB OF LADY HAO AT YINXU IN ANYANG, BEIJING, 1980, PL. 176:1
圖二
商 石蟬（長13.8公分） 出處：《殷墟婦好墓》，北京，1980年，圖版176:1
商代文物中，大理石雕極為稀少，多為青銅、玉、骨、牙製禮器與祭器。台北中央研究院史語所收藏少數商代大理石雕動物，屬安陽西北岡1500號墓出土（圖三），1976年婦好墓亦出土一批大理石雕虎、龍、牛，出版於《商王武丁與后婦好：殷商盛世文化藝術特展》，故宮博物院，台北，2012年，編號 IV-3；以及一石蟬，載於《殷墟婦好墓》，北京，1980年，圖版176:1（圖二）。細觀婦好墓石雕，晚商時期約西元前1200年，並對比前述 Salmony 之風格分析，婦好作例確實更加寫實，並刻劃幾何紋飾與動物結構細節。
著錄中極少見私人收藏商代大理石雕，如西雅圖藝術博物館藏一件雕熊，錄於 Richard E. Fuller，《Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works From The Permanent Collections》，〈Section: Chinese Art〉，1951年，圖1；倫敦 Sedgwick 伉儷珍藏雕牛，展出於《中國藝術國際展覽會》，英國皇家藝術學院，倫敦，1935-1936年，編號268A；Guennol 典藏一例雕象，載於 Ida Ely Rubin 編，《The Guennol Collection》，卷1，紐約，1975年，頁259-260；還有另一件雕牛，出自安思遠舊藏，2010年9月17日售於紐約佳士得，編號1004，後再次售出，2013年3月21日，編號1258。
FIG. 3
TWO MARBLE FIGURES OF TURTLES (12.5 CM), SHANG DYNASTY, YINXU PERIOD. COLLECTION OF THE INSTITUTE OF HISTORY AND PHILOLOGY, ACADEMIA SINICA, TAIPEI, AFTER PAUL PELLIOT, 'THE ROYAL TOMBS OF AN-YANG', STUDIES IN CHINESE ART AND SOME INDIAN INFLUENCES, LONDON, 1938, PP. 51-9, PL. VII, FIG. 16.
圖三
商代殷墟時期 大理石雕龜（長12.5公分） 台北中央研究院歷史語言研究所 出處：PAUL PELLIOT，〈THE ROYAL TOMBS OF AN-YANG〉，《STUDIES IN CHINESE ART AND SOME INDIAN INFLUENCES》，倫敦，1938年，頁51-9，圖版VII，圖16
This simple yet highly evocative carving is one of a very rare group of large marble carvings that represent the dawn of Chinese sculpture. The block has been skilfully carved in a gentle geometric manner to represent a stylised frog, the powerful back legs carefully shaped in shallow flat relief with a central groove, the pupils of the eyes conveyed by small indented holes.
There are two other known marble frog carvings of this size and form from the mid-Shang dynasty: one from the collection of Richard Bull, sold in our New York rooms, 6th December 1983, lot 244, and another, offered in our New York rooms, 19th November 1982, lot 88.
The frog from the Richard Bull collection (fig. 1) was illustrated in Alfred Salmony, 'A pre-Anyang Marble Sculpture', Artibus Asiae, vol. XX, no. 4, 1957, pp. 239-40, where the author argued convincingly that it predates other carved stone animals from Anyang, which are more naturalistic in their modelling, and are incised with geometric and figure motifs. He also concluded that the combination of large wings and toad-like body makes it difficult to assign the animal to any particular species. Richard Bull himself referred to the frog as one of the favourites in his collection, describing it as a ‘pre-Anyang marble frog that would have delighted Brancusi’.
Brancusi.
Shang dynasty marble carvings are extremely rare, much more so than other ritual works of art and vessels created from bronze, jade, bone or ivory. Other recorded examples of Shang marble include a small group of animal carvings in the collection of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, which were excavated from tomb 1500 at Xibeigang, Anyang (fig. 3), and a group of marble tigers, dragons and a buffalo recovered from the tomb of Fu Hao in 1976, illustrated in King Wu Ding and Lady Hao: Art and Culture of the Late Shang Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2012, cat. no. IV-3; and a cicada illustrated in Tomb of Lady Hao at Yinxu in Anyang, Beijing, 1980, pl. 176:1 (fig. 2). Close analysis of the carvings from Fu Hao’s tomb, that dates to circa 1200 BC in the late Shang period, corroborates Salmony’s analysis of the earlier date of the Richard Bull frog, as the Fu Hao carvings are indeed less stylised, and are incised with anatomical and geometric details.
Only a very small number of Shang marble figures has been recorded in private collections, including a marble bear now in Seattle Art Museum, illustrated in Richard E. Fuller, Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works From The Permanent Collections, Section: Chinese Art, 1951, fig. I; a marble buffalo from the collection of Mr and Mrs Sedgwick, London, illustrated in the Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-36, cat. no. 268A; a marble elephant from the Guennol collection, illustrated by Ida Ely Rubin, ed., The Guennol Collection, vol. 1, New York, 1975, pp. 259-60; and a marble water buffalo catalogued as late Shang, originally acquired from Robert H. Ellsworth in 1997, sold at Christie’s New York, 17th September 2010, lot 1004, and again 21st March 2013, lot 1258.
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