第二次世界大戰前日本私人舊藏品Collection of an Old Japanese Collection formed before World War II美國私人舊藏品(1980年代) Collection of a Private Collector in U.S.A. (1980s)紐約蘇富比2004年3月23日,第583號拍賣品Sotheby's, New York, March 23, 2004, Lot 583紐約佳士得2011年3月24日,第1236號拍賣品Christie's, New York, March 24, 2011, Lot 1236震古爍金 - 高扁足鼎 GALVANIZE THE WORLD A SHANG DING VESSEL扁足鼎是青銅鼎類中較為特殊的器形,且流行時間很短,只從商代中晚期至西周早期,所以傳世數量要遠比柱足鼎或蹄足鼎為少。此器敞口,口沿外折,立耳的耳廓向外微撇,圓腹圜底,飽滿,下置三條寬濶而具神氣的夔龍形扁足。鼎腹三面中央位置作棱脊,左右合飾一組以棱脊為對稱軸的歧尾獸面紋,獸目呈目字形眼,眼珠圓潤凸出,上有角,尾部向兩側展開,呈鈎狀內卷,旁側再作一條抽象的龍紋填充空間,十分繁細。夔龍形扁足張嘴咬噬腹底,龍尾外翻上揚,全身佈滿雲紋,卷曲線條,一絲不苟,儼然是一個龍形側面的浮雕。三足分立的布局,讓扁足鼎站立得更穩定,由此可以充份體現商代安陽時期鑄匠手法嫻熟和構思精巧的一面。此器通體光潔,銅質厚重,鑄造精細,品相上佳,體形較其他同時期的商文化扁足鼎為大,是同類型器中的精品。扁足鼎在商代青銅鼎中所佔的比例極少,夔龍形扁足如此粗壯有力的則更少。南京博物院藏的一件傳為安陽殷墟出土的商代晚期夔龍紋扁足鼎,雖然扁足尾部不起鈎上翹,但其鼎腹的紋飾和整體形制與此器很接近,詳見中國青銅器全集編輯委員會編:《中國青銅器全集》,北京:文物出版社, 1993-1998年,第二冊,第57號,頁58。同器亦著錄於〔日〕林巳奈夫:《殷周時代青銅器の研究——殷周青銅器綜覽1》,東京:吉川弘文館, 1984年,頁47,扁足鼎第4號。北京故宮博物院於1946年入藏商代晚期的正鼎,扁足夔尾上卷呈鈎狀,形制亦相近,惟鼎腹飾一周回首夔紋,亦可作參考比較,詳見故宮博物院編:《故宮青銅器》,北京:紫禁城出版社, 1999年,第21號,頁50。The hemispherical body supported by three blade feet, each cast as zoomorphic beasts with curled tails, raised eyes and fanged mouths, lifted upright to grasp the body, cast with a wide band of taotie masks picked out in flat curled bands, centered by a dividing vertical flange between bosses for eyes and extending out to rudimentary zoomorphic beasts at the sides, the flat upturned rim set with two loop handles, the bronze with malachite encrustation developing into a smooth and even patina overall.Bronze ding with blade feet in zoomorphic beasts design only appears in a short period from late Shang dynasty to early Western Zhou, and is rare among all cauldron vessels from the Bronze Age. A similar bronze ding with blade feet from Anyang, now kept in the Nanjing Museum, is illustrated in Zhongguo qingtong qi quanji (Complete Collection of Bronze wares in China), 1993-1998, vol.2, no.57, p.58; also see Robert W. Bagley, Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 1987, p.449, fig 80.3. Another similar one, also with blade feet but the body cast with a band of phoenixes, is illustrated in the Palace Museum ed., Gugong qingtongqi (Bronzes in the Palace Museum), 1999, no.21, p.50.