A pair of massive archaic bronze ritual food vessels, ding, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period | 東周春秋 　青銅蟠螭紋鼎一對

A Japanese private collection.

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

5th Anniversary Exhibition. All-Stars of the Okada Collection: Masterworks of Korin, Jakuchu, Hokusai and the Ru Ware Kilns, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2018-19, exh. no. 15 (unillustrated).

Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 1, Tokyo, 2013, no. 71 (one of the pair).

Majestically cast, the present pair of ding are remarkable for their imposing size and intricate relief decoration, exemplifying both the technical sophistication and the innovative spirit of Eastern Zhou period craftsmanship. Bronze was among the most precious and scarce materials in ancient China, and vessels of such impressive scale were seldom produced due to the immense quantity of metal required for their casting. Large bronzes of this period were reserved for the most prestigious aristocrats, serving as powerful symbols of rank, wealth, and ancestral reverence.

The body of each vessel is encircled by a broad band of interlocking dragon motifs, meticulously rendered and woven into a highly stylised, harmonious composition. This interlocking dragon pattern ranks among the most distinctive decorative schemes of Eastern Zhou bronzes and can be compared to the related design on an early Spring and Autumn period bronze fu now in the collection of the National Museum of China, Beijing, illustrated in Huazhang chongxian: Zengshijia wenwu / From Oblivion to Glory: Treasures from the Noble Family of Zeng, Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan, 2021, p. 206.

As the most important form of ritual bronze, the ding was closely associated with supreme authority and political legitimacy. According to classical Chinese literature, Yu of the Xia dynasty gathered metal from the Nine Territories to cast nine ding, which became the ultimate symbol of royal power for succeeding rulers. During the Spring and Autumn period, King Zhuang of Chu, one of the Five Hegemons, challenged the Zhou king’s supremacy by inquiring about the weight of the Nine Ding, an episode that became emblematic of political ambition and defiance.

The Western Zhou dynasty established strict regulations governing the number of ding permitted in ritual use: the Son of Heaven could employ nine; feudal lords, seven; high ministers, five; and lower officials, three or even a single ding. By the Eastern Zhou period, however, these hierarchical distinctions were no longer strictly enforced. Archaeological evidence, such as the discovery of nine ding in the tomb of the Marquis of Zeng, attests to the gradual erosion of these ritual and social constraints.

Related ding vessels of this impressive size are rare. A comparable example, attributed to the middle Spring and Autumn period and possibly discovered in Xinzheng, Henan province, formerly from the collection of Dr Arthur M. Sackler, is now housed in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, D.C.; it is illustrated in Jenny So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. III, New York, 1995, pl. 11, together with another similar ding excavated in Houma, Shanxi province, fig. 11.2. Another example of slightly larger size, excavated in Xinzheng, Henan, in 1923, is now preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and published in Gugong bowuyuan cang wenwu zhenpin quanji: Qingtong liyueqi (The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bronze Ritual Vessels and Musical Instruments), Hong Kong, 2006, pl. 48. A fourth example of related form but smaller size, from the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2013, lot 1228.

來源

日本私人收藏

壺中居，東京

展覽

《開館5周年記念展―美のスターたち―光琳．若冲．北斎．汝窯など名品勢ぞろい》， 岡田美術館，箱根，2018-19年，展覽編號15（沒載圖）

出版

小林忠編，《岡田美術館名品撰》，卷1，東京，2013年，編號71（其一）

本對青銅鼎氣韻雄渾，尺寸碩大，鑄工精良，紋飾繁縟精緻，充分展現了東周時期青銅工藝的高度技術水平與創新精神。青銅在中國古代屬於極為珍貴的稀有金屬資源，如此尺寸碩大的青銅器因其鑄材龐巨而更顯珍罕，故而此類大型青銅器通常僅為當時身份顯赫的重要貴族所有。

此對鼎於腹週見一圈變形交體龍紋，每組龍紋相互交纏，連綿不斷，線條流暢，繁縟異常。此類龍紋表現方式是東周青銅器中最具特色的裝飾之一，多見於各類器形，如春秋早期曾伯桼簠，現藏於中國國家博物館，曾展於《華章重現：曾世家文物》，湖北省博物館，武漢，2021年，頁206。

作為青銅禮器中最為重要的器形，鼎自古即與至高王權與政治正統密切相連。《說文》記，「昔禹收九牧之金，鑄鼎荊山之下」，後世皆視之為最高王權的象徵。又見《左傳•宣公三年》所記，「楚子（楚莊王）伐陸渾之戎，遂至於洛，觀兵於周疆。定王（周定王）使王孫滿勞楚子，楚子問鼎之大小輕重焉」。王孫滿答：「周德雖衰，天命未改。鼎之輕重，未可問也」。由此可見青銅鼎為國家權力的象徵，關乎於國力之興衰，其重要程度自無需贅述。

西周時期對禮制用鼎的數量有嚴格等級規定，所謂列鼎制度，即天子用九鼎，諸侯七鼎，大夫五鼎，士三鼎或一鼎。而至東周時期，此等級制度已不再嚴守。考古發現，如湖北京山宋河壩春秋早期曾侯墓就出土過九鼎，即為禮制與社會等級逐漸鬆懈崩壞之有力例證。

此類大尺寸青銅鼎甚罕。可比一例，斷代春秋中期，或出土於河南新鄭，亞瑟•賽克勒博士收藏，現藏於華盛頓國家亞洲藝術博物館，錄於蘇芳淑，《Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections》，卷3，紐約，1995年，圖版11，同書另見一鼎例，出土於山西侯馬，圖11.2。再見一例，尺寸略大，1923年出土於河南新鄭，現藏於北京故宮博物院，出版於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集•青銅禮樂器》，香港，2006年，圖版48。第四例形制相近但尺寸略小，出自香港徐氏藝術館舊藏，曾於2013年3月22日紐約佳士得拍賣，編號1228。