約克尋寶記

文、圖陳履生CHEN Lvsheng

伊斯蘭藍(lán)釉油燈Islamic blue-glazed oil lamp

對(duì)于約克的憧憬完全是因?yàn)槎幍亩啻谓榻B所激發(fā)的誘惑。他告訴我約克的古董很多，而且很便宜。今年冬天，應(yīng)英國(guó)約克大學(xué)藝術(shù)史系主任邁克爾教授的邀請(qǐng)，我們赴約克大學(xué)講學(xué)。從北京飛往曼徹斯特，再?gòu)穆鼜厮固刈疖嚨郊s克。到了約克，下了火車，所看到的約克火車站的第一感覺，什么叫老牌帝國(guó)主義，什么叫“日不落帝國(guó)”，一切都可以得到解釋。滿眼的鋼架與結(jié)構(gòu)所透露的歷史與輝煌，氣勢(shì)不凡表現(xiàn)在歷經(jīng)140年而功能齊備，舊而不敗，老而不衰，它見證了約克以及英國(guó)18世紀(jì)以來歷經(jīng)三個(gè)世紀(jì)的社會(huì)變遷。而當(dāng)新約克出現(xiàn)在美國(guó)并且成為當(dāng)今世界上最現(xiàn)代化的城市，這座始建于1873年、1877年投入使用的火車站依然故我，當(dāng)年的帝國(guó)的日已落并轉(zhuǎn)移升起在美利堅(jiān)，可是，作為英格蘭最偉大的維多利亞風(fēng)格的建筑之一，曾經(jīng)是世界上最大的火車站，那種老牌紳士風(fēng)度不減。

約克可去的地方有很多，值得去的地方也有很多。正好趕上圣誕節(jié)之前，古城內(nèi)游人如織，每個(gè)人在這座古城中各取所需，各去所想。我還是想去看看念念中的古玩，有哪些？怎么樣？丁寧輕車熟路把我?guī)У搅艘蛔ㄖ?nèi)，這是在當(dāng)?shù)胤浅Ｖ募t房子。進(jìn)門時(shí)在行色匆匆間都沒有注意到這房子的顏色。這里離著名的大教堂很近，離商業(yè)街也不遠(yuǎn)，而離火車站更近。到約克的人，經(jīng)過這里的很多，能夠走進(jìn)去的可能不太多，而像我這樣專門來尋寶的也不會(huì)太多。在這棟只有兩層樓的樓要不是它特殊的顏色，真的是不太起眼，盡管它主立面的一二層之間的墻上醒目的寫有“Antique Centre”，可是，有幾人會(huì)對(duì)“Antique”有興趣？

古羅馬陶質(zhì)鳳鳥紋油燈Ceramic phoenix-pattern oil lamp of ancient Rome

拾階而上，進(jìn)門之后自然轉(zhuǎn)向右手的一個(gè)房間，一眼就看到迎面的那個(gè)柜子里有幾件古羅馬時(shí)期的油燈，這下放心了，不會(huì)空手而歸。每一件古董上的價(jià)簽都有明確的標(biāo)示其身份以及價(jià)格，有的重要的古董邊上還有像博物館的展品標(biāo)簽?zāi)菢拥你懪?，詳?xì)說明與古董相關(guān)的時(shí)代、材質(zhì)、流傳等信息。這里是一個(gè)柜子挨著一個(gè)柜子，每個(gè)柜子里的古董或舊物的品類都不一樣，其中也有一些亞洲包括中國(guó)的古董、陶俑之類，很一般。當(dāng)然，到這里不是來看中國(guó)古董的。這里的每一個(gè)房間都不大，一間接一間，過道里都掛著各種各樣的古董，有珠寶、首飾、舊鐘、壁毯、家具、裝飾等。很難敘說這里有多少品類，反正是什么都有，幾乎都是雜項(xiàng)，其數(shù)量據(jù)說有3萬種。這里沒有約克郡博物館展出的那么高端，可是，五花八門的品類有相當(dāng)一部分是博物館中看不到的，所沒有的。因此，到這里來轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)可以看成是參觀博物館的補(bǔ)充。這些雜項(xiàng)中有相當(dāng)一部分是約克歷史的物證，是歷史和文化的一種創(chuàng)造。這里售賣的從遠(yuǎn)古的陶器到古羅馬時(shí)期的油燈、雕像；從日用品到工藝品，真正是琳瑯滿目。就古董而言，這些并不是經(jīng)過科學(xué)發(fā)掘的出土文物，只是和墓葬、遺址等相關(guān)，其中不乏一些具有重要?dú)v史與藝術(shù)價(jià)值，也有我一直追求的。比如那種在大都會(huì)博物館和紐約猶太人博物館看到的巴勒斯坦鐵器時(shí)代（公元前1000年-550年）的陶燈，這是歐洲文明中最早的燈具，其形制有點(diǎn)像蚌殼，但是已經(jīng)在燈捻的部位有了特殊處理，使之更為實(shí)用，而這里所見是我第一次在市場(chǎng)上看到。

文化遺存的多樣性，在這里是出于人們的想象。人們?cè)谶@里會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)很多好玩而有趣的內(nèi)容，其中有一個(gè)柜子里全是和繪畫與裝飾相關(guān)的物件，有繪制在象牙上的肖像，也有小幅用于裝飾的繪畫，還有一些小幅的水彩畫等，其繪畫的水平和精致的程度完全屬于博物館級(jí)。而這些通常在博物館中會(huì)被淹沒，因?yàn)樗鼈兲×恕＿@些都是和過去老牌帝國(guó)主義生活方式相關(guān)聯(lián)的一些藝術(shù)品，它們的內(nèi)容關(guān)聯(lián)到它們的時(shí)代和國(guó)家中的人的生活方式、審美傳統(tǒng)、藝術(shù)潮流等，無疑，其藝術(shù)的創(chuàng)造也和公眾的審美興趣聯(lián)系在一起。所以，那些小型的肖像畫繪制在象牙等一些特別的材質(zhì)上，其便于攜帶的特性又表現(xiàn)出流傳上的特征?；蛟S這里可能有很多愛情故事，有很多與家族歷史相關(guān)的內(nèi)容，如果將它們綜合在一起，我們就可以看到英國(guó)的傳統(tǒng)文化和文化傳統(tǒng)，尤其是在家族傳承中的一些特別的內(nèi)容。它們通過藝術(shù)的方式而傳之久遠(yuǎn)，雖然今天有些家族可能已經(jīng)散去，有些家族可能已經(jīng)敗落，但當(dāng)這些和過去宮廷、宮殿、城堡等相關(guān)的藝術(shù)品流入到民間之后，我們感受到的是“昔日王謝堂前燕，飛入尋常百姓家”的一種凄楚。它們流落到民間也會(huì)有一段故事和曲折，而它們?yōu)槊耖g收藏，或者是成為一些專項(xiàng)收藏的內(nèi)容，都提供了一種難得的資源。當(dāng)然，這樣一種資源今天在這個(gè)古玩中心以“奇觀室”或“藏寶閣”的方式中陳列，人們會(huì)感受到歷史的滄桑。

看到這里是看這種綜合性古玩店最特殊的，讓我想起了博物館起源中的“奇觀室”或“藏寶閣”—— 16世紀(jì)，明代嘉靖時(shí)期，中國(guó)的很多文人正在刻意搜求古玩，并通過雅集的方式彼此交流和觀賞，從而帶動(dòng)了文人士大夫之間特有的一種交友方式。而在西方，隨著地理的大發(fā)現(xiàn)和文藝復(fù)興的開始，歐洲世界開始了對(duì)神秘陸地和神奇寶藏的探索。那時(shí)候，在王宮貴族與平民百姓之間都流行著在家里置辦一種雙開門的櫥柜，而在櫥柜里面放的則是搜集來的各種珍奇。收藏家們把這些櫥柜稱為“奇觀室”或“藏寶閣”，通常在博物館學(xué)中會(huì)把這種私人化的用于陳列和展示的櫥柜看成是博物館的早期形態(tài)，是私人收藏走向公眾開放的始初。在歷史的發(fā)展中，博物館作為文明的承載，不管是收藏，還是展示以及其他，都是人類文明的記錄。這種經(jīng)過占有的炫耀與私欲的展示，演變?yōu)閷?duì)公眾開放的公眾性的實(shí)體博物館，在中國(guó)卻到了20世紀(jì)初。可是，在中國(guó)古代，至遲在16世紀(jì)之前，從皇家的宮殿到文人的書房，都有一種多寶閣的柜子，實(shí)際上也是在陳列主人的收藏，無疑，這之中還有炫耀財(cái)富的問題。

這里的每一個(gè)展柜都和一位藏家或賣家聯(lián)系在一起。每一個(gè)展柜彼此之間的類別各不相同，顯然，這些來自于不同藏家或賣家的古董或舊貨都集中在這個(gè)建筑之中，這就成為了所謂的“中心”。這個(gè)中心的歷史并沒有這棟建筑那么長(zhǎng)久，只有30余年。1986年開始時(shí)在約克郡的哈羅蓋特，1999年夏才轉(zhuǎn)移到這棟紅房子之內(nèi)，這得力于此前經(jīng)營(yíng)的成功。這里是古董收藏者的販賣之家，也是收藏者的交流之所。今天的古玩中心是把分散的藏家聚合在一起，讓大家有各自展示自己收藏和交流的場(chǎng)所，而以整體的形態(tài)面向他們的客戶。這又有點(diǎn)像縮微版的古玩城，是把那些古玩城中每一間房子或幾間房子的商鋪縮微成了一個(gè)柜子。因此，當(dāng)每一位對(duì)古玩或舊貨有興趣的人走入其中，實(shí)際上并不需要去逛完每一個(gè)展柜，他只要逛其中一個(gè)或幾個(gè)自己感興趣的展柜就可能有所收獲。因?yàn)樗鼈儗?shí)際上是來自于收藏家的系統(tǒng)收藏，其系統(tǒng)性表現(xiàn)在對(duì)于某一類品種搜羅的完整性以及這種民間收藏的特殊的視角或特別的方法。

紅房子古玩中心一共有10個(gè)房間。不知不覺間在上了兩個(gè)臺(tái)階、經(jīng)過一個(gè)過道后就走到了里面的一個(gè)房間。一進(jìn)來就發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)展柜內(nèi)有幾盞金屬的煤油燈，不像是民用的。再細(xì)看，上上下下每一層都有，各種形制。除了油燈之外，還有與鐵路相關(guān)的標(biāo)牌、工具、帽子等，應(yīng)該是個(gè)鐵路文物專柜，而那些金屬的油燈則是鐵路上的用燈，功用包括普通照明、機(jī)車照明、信號(hào)照明等。顯然，一次看到這么多的鐵路上的燈具還是第一次。毫不猶豫，將柜子里面的16件全部“包圓”，這將構(gòu)成我未來的煤油燈博物館中的鐵路煤油燈的一個(gè)章節(jié)，真是得之于意外。面對(duì)這一大堆，是拿不走也帶不走了。相約離開約克的前一天，買個(gè)旅行箱來裝這些油燈。

接下來參觀鐵路博物館、約克郡博物館、城堡博物館、軍事博物館、約克美術(shù)館等，想得很多。一個(gè)小小的城市居然有那么多有特色的博物館，怪不得它是除倫敦之外在英國(guó)排行第二的著名旅游城市，也是僅次于倫敦的游客最多的城市。約克作為歷史文化小城，在古城墻圍攏下，是懷舊的最好的地方，在這里的每一個(gè)瞬間都呼吸著古味的空氣。街上不乏其它的古董商鋪，有一家也有旗鼓相當(dāng)?shù)囊?guī)模，可是處于商業(yè)街的氛圍，加上其陳列的那些古董舊貨的品質(zhì)則遠(yuǎn)不如紅房子。

幾天之后按約買了一個(gè)大旅行箱又來到紅房子。趁著工作人員在包裝的機(jī)會(huì)，又走到里屋看看那鐵路文物專柜，果不其然，又填得滿滿的如當(dāng)初，但是，品質(zhì)卻遠(yuǎn)不如我此前所買。接著再上樓，無意中走進(jìn)了一個(gè)滿滿當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)奈葑?，又有不少煤油燈。其中有一件全手工敲制的黃銅油燈，雙捻，一看就是大戶人家所有。那手工活絕了，必須拿下。請(qǐng)工作人員將它從上面拿下來，掂了掂，真是沉啊?；氐阶√幹蠓Q了稱、量了量，5.7公斤，連燈罩73厘米，燈的主體48厘米。這個(gè)看來只能手拎了。對(duì)于其它，顯然，這次不可能都據(jù)為己有，其它的只能等下一次來了。無疑，它們會(huì)等我。

紅房子一景Scene of Red House

The longing for York is entirely due to the temptations inspired by DING Ning’s introductory words, saying that York is full of antiques and mostly very cheap. At the invitation of Professor Michael, director of the Art History Department at York University in this winter, we went to York University to give lectures after flying from Beijing to Manchester followed by trains to York. After arriving in York and getting off the train, my first feeling when seeing the York station was the genuine definition of the old imperialism and the Sun-does-not-set Empire, everything is well explained.Eye-filled steel frame and structure revealed the history and glory, the extraordinary quality is reflected in being old but undefeated, aged but not decayed after 140 years with full functions, it witnessed the three-century-long social changes of York and the United Kingdom since the 18th century. When the New York City emerged in the United States and became the most modern city in the world today, the railway station that was built in 1873 and put into use in 1877 remains the same. The sun of the Empire has set and rises in the United States. However, as one of England's greatest Victorian-style buildings, it used to be the largest train station in the world,and the demeanor of old gentleman remains unchanged.

There are many places worth visiting in York. Our visit encountered the approaching of Christmas, the ancient city was full of visitors with longing dreams. I still wanted to find out those antiques with my own eyes. Under DING Ning’s experienced guidance, we went into a building, a very famous local red house, which was not noticed as we were in a hurry. It is close to the famous cathedral, not far from the commercial street and even closer to the train station.Many people should have passed here in visiting the city, only few entered and those like us hunting for treasure should be fewer. If not due to its special color, the two-storey building is really not so striking. Though the Antique Centre is most visible on the walls between the first and second floor of the main fa?ade, however, how many people would be interested in the Antique?

Climbing a few steps, it naturally led me to a room to the right with a glance at a few pieces of ancient Roman oil lamps on the cabinet. What a relief, I won’t return empty-handed. Each piece of antiques had a price tag clearly marked its identity and price, and some important antiques even had labels of that of museum exhibits, detailing related information, such as the era, material, circulation and others. The room was full of cabinets, each containing different antique or old things,some of them were from Asia, including China’s antiques and pottery figurines, which were very ordinary. Of course,I was not there for Chinese antiques. Each room there was not large, one after another, even the aisles were full of antiques, such as jewelry, ornaments, old clocks, tapestries,furniture, decorations and others. It was hard to tell the exact number of antiques in the store, anyway, almost everything,all the miscellaneous items, about 30,000 in number. The items here were not like those high-end exhibits at Yorkshire Museum, but in a large portion of a wide variety, many could not be found in museum. Therefore, here could be regarded as a supplement to the museums. A considerable portion of these miscellaneous items were evidence of York's history, a creation of history and culture. Items here for sale were from the ancient pottery to the oil lamps and statues of ancient Roman era, from daily necessities to handicrafts, really dazzling. In the case of antiques, these were not unearthed relics that have been scientifically excavated but were related to tombs, ruins and etc. Some of them were of great historical and artistic value, which I have always pursued. For example,the pottery lamp of the Palestinian Iron Age (1000-550 BC)seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Jewish Museum, the earliest lamp of European civilization that shaped a bit like a clam shell. Light twist had a special treatment to make it more practical, but what I saw was my first time in the market.

The diversity of cultural relics is out of people's imagination.People here would find a lot of fun and interesting contents,for instance, a cabinet is full of paintings and decorations and other related objects, there are portraits painted in ivory,small decorative painting and some small watercolor and so on. The level of the painting and the degree of sophistication completely belong to that of the museum. And these were usually submerged in museums because they were too small.These were all works of art that are related to the old-style imperialist lifestyles of the past. The content was linked to their time and the way of life, aesthetic traditions, and artistic trends in their countries. Undoubtedly, their artistic creation and the public's aesthetic interest were also linked. Therefore,those small portraits were drawn on some special materials,such as ivory. Its portability features also reflected the characteristics of the spread. Perhaps there might be many love stories here, many related to family history, and if taken together, we can see British traditional culture and cultural traditions, in particular, some special content in the family heritage. They have been passed down through means of art.Although some families today have dispersed, and some might decline already, yet what we feel is the sadness of Swallows of Previous Royal Families Fly into Home of Commoner when these works of art related to the past court, palaces, castles and the like have flowed into the private sector. There were stories and twists and turns as they flow to the private sector,providing a rare resource for private collection or as the content of special collections. Of course, such a resource was displayed today in the way of the "Curiosity Room" or "Cabinet of Curiosities", people would feel the vicissitudes of history.

This was by far the most unique and comprehensive antique shop, reminding me of the "Curiosity Room" or "Cabinet of Curiosities" of the museum’s origin. In the 16th century and the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, many Chinese literati were searching for antiques and communicating and admiring each other through the methods of the garden gathering,thus bringing a unique way of making friends between the literati and the scholars. In the West, with the geographic discovery and the beginning of the Renaissance, the European world began its exploration of mysterious land and magical treasures. At that time, there was a popular double-door cabinet at home amongst aristocrats in the royal family and ordinary people, while various rare things gathered were put in this special cabinet. The collectors refer to these cabinets as "Curiosity Room" or "Cabinet of Curiosities", which are often viewed in museology as privatized display and showing cabinets as the early form of museum, the beginning of the private collection to the public. In historical development, the museum as a civilized bearing, no matter the collection, display or others, is a record of human civilization. This showcase of flamboyant possession and display of lust turned into a publicoriented entity, the museum open to the public, in China until the early 20th century. However, in ancient China, no later than the 16th century, the study from the imperial palaces to the literati always had a cabinet of Duobao, which is, in fact,also a collection of masters, revealing issue of showing off the wealth.

被“掠奪”之后的的柜子內(nèi)已經(jīng)沒有油燈，顯得空空蕩蕩It appears to be empty after the oil lamp is “plundered”from the cabinet

Each showcase here was associated with a collector or seller.Each has a different category from one another. Obviously,these antiques or second-hand items from different collectors or sellers were all concentrated in this building, which helped it earn the name of the so-called "center", which only has a history of 30 years,not long enough like that of the building. It was located at the Harrogate of the Yorkshire in 1986 at the beginning and moved to this red house on the summer of 1999, justifying the success of the previous operation. Here is sale home of antique collectors, also the place for exchanging. Today's antiques center is not only a collection of scattered collectors so that we all had our own places to showcase the collection and exchange, but also an institution in the overall form for its customers.This is a bit like the miniature version of the antique city, is to those antique city of each house or a few houses into a miniature shop. Therefore, when everybody who is interested in antique or second-hand junk goes in and does not actually need to walk through every showcase, he may have to visit one or more showplaces of his own interest. Because they are actually from the systematic collection of collectors as it is reflected in the completeness of the collection for a particular breed and the particular perspective or method of such collection of private sector.

The red house, the antique centre, had 10 rooms in total. After climbing two more steps and going through an aisle, there was a room. A few metal kerosene lamps in the showcase could be found upon entering the room, unlikely for civil use. Such lamps of different shapes were on each floor. In addition to the oil lamps, there were signs, tools, hats and others related to the railway, it should be counters for railway artefact. The metal oil lamp was for the use of railway, including general lighting, locomotive lighting and signal lighting. Obviously, it was the first time I saw so many lights related to the railway. Without any hesitation, all 16 items in the cabinet were "purchased completely", which will constitute a chapter in the railway kerosene lamp of my future kerosene lamp museum, and it really came as a surprise.Facing such large amount, I was advised to buy a suitcase to contain all these lamps before leaving York.

The following itinerary was to visit the Railway Museum, Yorkshire Museum, Castle Museum, Museum of Military Art, York Art Museum etc. A small city actually has so many unique museums, no wonder it ranked the second as the most famous tourist city after London in the United Kingdom, also the second city with so many tourists London. York, as a historical and cultural town, is the best place for nostalgia surrounded by the ancient city walls as every moment here breathed the ancient taste of the air. There is no shortage of other antique shops on the street, and one of them is well-matched. However, it was in the atmosphere of a commercial street,and the quality of those antique and second-handed items displayed on the street was far inferior to that of the red house.

A few days later, I bought a big suitcase and went to the red house. As the staff was packaging, I went into the room again, undoubtedly that the railway cultural relics counters were as filled as before, but the quality was far lower than those I had previously bought. Going upstairs, I inadvertently walked into a house full of kerosene lamps. Amongst them, one piece was a hand-crafted brass oil lamp, double twists, it must belong to a large family. That technique was marvelous and I must take it. I asked the staff to move it from above, and it was really heavy. It was 5.7kg after I returned home weighing, the lamp cover was 73cm and the main body was 48 cm. It seemed I had to carry it by hand. For the rest, it was clear that I could not take them all and they could only wait for the next time. Undoubtedly, they would wait for me.

3月2日至13日，由中國(guó)美術(shù)館主辦的“還攜筆墨向高丘——?dú)W豪年八十回顧展”在京舉辦。圖為臺(tái)灣畫家歐豪年的中國(guó)畫《臺(tái)灣九十九峰》Hosted by National Art Museum of China, "In the Pursuit of Excellence in Ink and Brush"——A Retrospective Exhibition of OU Haonian at His Eighties has been held in Beijing from March 2-13. Chinese painting 99 Peaks of Taiwan by Taiwan painter OU Haonian.

1月31日至5月6日，“學(xué)院與沙龍”——法國(guó)國(guó)家造型藝術(shù)中心、巴黎國(guó)立高等美術(shù)學(xué)院珍藏展在中國(guó)國(guó)家博物館舉辦。圖為讓-奧古斯特-多米尼克·安格爾的油畫《朱庇特與忒提斯》School and Sharon—— a collection exhibition by French National Center for Visual Arts and Paris National Academy of Fine Arts has been held at National Museum of China from January 31 to May 6. Jupiter et Th é tis by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres