脚付雲文耳杯きゃくつきうんもんじはい

  • 中国・前漢時代
  • 3-1cB.C.
  • 木(後補)、漆、青銅鍍金、金、銀
  • H-19.8 D-24 W-15.3
解説(開館1周年記念展)

楕円形の器口の両長辺に翼状の把手のつけられた杯は,東周時代に現れ,広く用いられるようになり,後に「耳杯」または「羽觴」と呼ばれ,以後,唐代まで継承された。耳杯は,戦国時代にも豆に匹敵するほどの高脚のものが存在し,*1 漢時代にかけては案上にのせたり,金属製のものを染炉にのせあるいは蓋を被せ内容物を温めるなど,酒あるいは羮などを盛る食器として用いられた。

本作品の楕円形の器を支える脚は角の丸まった矩形の横断面をもち,豆の脚にしばしば見られるように裾を引いて立ち上がり,上部の四つのほぞで器胎に取り付けられている。長い側面にはT形,短い側面にはH形の透かしがあり,その表面には金銀象嵌で交錯し渦巻く雲気を表す。器の口縁には鍍金の施された青銅の釦圏が嵌められ,その両長辺には片端に尖端をもった耳が付けられている。器内部の漆皮は後補の木胎に貼り付けられているが,見込みのC形意匠は漢代に新たに漆器に登場したもので,その祖形は秦代漆器の雲鳥文に見ることができる。*2 釦圏の真下に巡らされた細い実線と破線も漢時代に特有な意匠である。

釦圏につけられた二つの耳は,他の耳杯には見られない大胆な形状をしている。陝西省茂陵1号無名塚の発掘例のような,金属製の釦圏と左右対称の耳が付き,台座が組み合わされた大型の耳杯の類例は知られているが,*3 この場合は点対称に配され,その形状を構成する雲文の流れは片方で渦を巻き,他端は外側に向かってその尖端がはねている。この幾分角張った雲文は秦の漆器から見られるが,漢代にそのより明確な表現を見ることができる。*4

この力動的な構成は秦漢漆器の筆勢の効いた文様にしばしば見られる,雲気の急速な旋回を意図したものと思われる。通常はいずれの意匠もその器の形状を出ないが,この器の場合は,雲文にそって透かしの入った脚の造りをも含め,器の形状全体で急速な雲気の動きや旋回を表した逸品であると言える。この形状の左右対称を崩して一種の気の流れあるいは勢いを感じさせる意匠は,既に戦国の玉佩に見られ,広東省広州市象崗山前漢南越王墓から出土した玉佩をはじめとして,前漢の玉器に盛んに用いられた。同墓からは更にこの耳杯の脚にたいへん近い象嵌意匠を施した青銅の傘柄箍が出土している。*5

その大きさと脚を有することから,おそらく何らかの儀礼に使用されたものであろう。

1 Freer Gallery/Chinese Art of The Warring States Period Change and Continuity, 480-222B.C./Washington, D.C. 1982 no. 134; Bernhard Karlgren/Bronzes in the Wesen Collection/Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities Bulletin 30 Stockholm 1958 pl.27
2 Hubei Provincial Museum, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong/Lacquerware from the Warring States to the Han Periods excavated in Hubei Province/Hong Kong 1994
 湖北省博物館・香港中文大學文物館/湖北出土戦國秦漢漆器/香港1994; Cultural Relics Publishing House/Lacquer Art of the Han Dynasty/Beijing 1987
 文物出版社/漢代漆藝術/北京1987
3 文物1982年第9期
4 湖北省博物館1994同書33; Fu Juyou et al./The Cultural Relics Unearthed from the Han Tombs at Mawangdui/Changsha 1992 67
 傳擧有他/馬王堆漢墓文物/長沙1992 67
5 The Museum of the Western Han Tomb of the Nanyue King, Guangzhou/Jades from the Tomb of the King of Nanyue/Guangzhou 1991
 廣州西漢南越王墓博物館/南越王墓玉器/廣州1991;文物1986年第4期;Cultural Relics Publishing House/Nanyue King's Tomb of the Western Han/Beijing 1991
 文物出版社/西漢南越王墓/北京1991

Catalogue Entry

Drinking cups provided with wing-shaped ears at the longer sides of the elliptical mouths first appeared in the Eastern Zhou period (771-256 B.C.) and gained wide acceptance. This type of cup was later called erbei (ear cup) or yushang (sparrow cup) and was produced until the Tang period. During the Warring States period (481-221 B.C.), there was a single-legged lacquer vessel, comparable in height to single-legged wooden dishes called dou, used for a similar purpose.*1 Toward the Han period, this type of cup was used as tableware. If the cup was made of metal, it was placed on a brazier, sometimes topped with a lid, to heat the contents. Alternatively, it was used as a dish to serve wine or soup.

The bronze foot supporting the elliptical cup has a rectangular cross-section with rounded corners. It is flared at the bottom, as often seen in dou, and is attached to the cup with four tenons. The foot has T-shaped openwork on the longer side and H-shaped openwork on the shorter side. The foot's surface is finished in gold and silver inlay in a design of crossed whirling cloud. The rim of the vessel is inset with an oval ring of gilded bronze, to which pointed ears are attached on the longer sides. The layers of lacquer covering the inside of the cup were applied on a wooden cup later reconstructed. The C-shaped design seen here on the lacquer was newly adapted in the Han period, the origin of which can be traced to the cloud and bird pattern on lacquer ware of the Qin period (221-206 B.C.).*2 Also particular to Han is the motif of thin unbroken and dotted lines right below the rim.

The two wings of the cup are very daring and are rarely found in other ear cups, though the excavation of an unmarked tomb in Xiaxi Province provided several examples of large ear cups which combined a metallic lip, ears, and a base.*3 Compared to the ears usually placed to the right and left of a line symmetrically, the ears of the present cup maintain symmetry in relation to a point of rotation. The whirling cloud pattern dominating the design of the ear at one end changes as if to fly out outward on the other end. The cloud pattern with angular corners as seen in the present work can be traced to the lacquer ware of the Eastern Zhou period, and this characteristic manifests itself more clearly in the Han period.*4

The dynamic combination of various elements in this work are perhaps intended to mimic rapid movements of whirling clouds, similar to rapidly executed design patterns often found in lacquer ware of the Qin and Han periods. Usually, these decorative elements remain within the confines of the overall shape of the vessel. This superb cup is an exception the various elements that constitute this piece, including the openwork along the cloud design on its foot, represent an attempt to express rapid cloud movements. The design of breaking down line symmetry and expressing the rapid flux of spirit 'qi' can already be seen in the ornaments in jade from the Warring States Period, and become popular in works in jade of the Western Han period, as seen in the jade ornament from the Western Han tomb in Xianggang Guangzhoushi, Guangdong province. Moreover, from the same tomb, a cylindrical chariot ornament in bronze with an inlaid similar pattern to that of the foot of present cup, was excavated.*5

Judging from the size of the present work and from the fact that it is fitted with a foot, this piece is considered to have been used for ceremony.