毫芒微雕之研究

Abstract

摘要

象牙毫芒雕刻和果核微雕是特殊專門藝術。明清大型雕刻藝術無大發展，具體而微小型雕刻卻富於創造性，象牙毫芒雕刻和果核微雕即是其中最出色的二項。

象牙材質具黏綿性，刀剔後一字一畫清晰可見，於有限的空間表達無盡的意境；不似石材之易崩，刀刻後即刀痕被粉塵湮沒，行氣難辨，故在毫芒雕刻中象牙類脫穎而出。象牙毫芒雕藝術和文人印章有莫大淵源，明清以來，通書法、有學識、求意境的文人在作品中自文自刻自畫，用鐵筆作書畫，寄託情趣，自我陶醉，與友共賞。文人在創作詩、書、畫的同時，亦作印章邊款藝術的微雕嘗試，歷經艱辛，終於刻出纖如毫髮，變化微妙的作品。象牙毫芒雕在此基礎上傳承更新，清末民初以于碩、吳南愚為主要代表，在筆、刀和墨的運用上，有獨特的造詣，二人微雕作書與作畫都能出奇制勝，精彩絕倫。

本文除探討象牙毫芒雕外，立體果核微雕也是重要項目。核雕是以橄欖、核桃、桃子等果核為材料雕刻而成，起源尚待考證；但依明魏學洢〈核舟記〉和清宋起鳳〈核工記〉的記載，已確定明代果核雕已達甚高的藝術水準。核雕發展史上，少有作品保存下來，本文除探討清代核雕大師精品佳作，另外還有當代傑出核雕專家陳素英、茹柏平、秋人、陳向民等人之精品，件件佈局有致，刀法細膩，雕刻精湛。

毫芒微雕作品藉數位微拍鏡頭之輔助，呈現作品精微雕刻風貌，有別以往書上徒見作品外形而不見細微精雕之遺憾。期望透過象牙和果核微雕作品之整理研究，引領國人從傳統中一窺微雕藝術的新精神。Excerpt

Ivory and fruit pit micro-carvings are highly specialized art form. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, large-scale sculpture saw no further development, but small-scale carving arts flourished and saw great creativity. Ivory and fruit pit carvings are the most outstanding among them.

Ivory is a material which is somewhat adhesive and soft in nature so the knife cuts clearly and distinctively, as a result, to express infinite meanings in finite space. Otherwise, stone material is fragile so the engraved words fill with dust after the knife has finished carving, difficult to find sculpture. Therefore, ivory micro-carving stands out from micro-carvings. The arts of ivory micro-carvings and scholar’s seals have proud origins. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, learned scholars, who were familiar with calligraphy and wished to conjure up an artistic mood, used irony engraving knives to create calligraphy and pictures for emotional purpose, and for their own and their friends’ amusement. In addition to poems, calligraphy and pictures, scholars also strove to carve tiny inscriptions on the sides of their seals, and eventually they had developed fine and delicate carving works. Ivory micro-carvings developed on this basis in this way. Yu Shuo and Wu Nan-yu were the most eminent practitioners during the late Qing and early Republic. Both were outstanding in their use of brushes, knives and ink; their extremely difficult tiny carvings of writing and painting were beyond compare.

This text probes into not only ivory micro-carvings but also three-dimensional fruit pit carvings, also an important element. Fruit pit carvings are those of the pits of such fruits as olives, walnuts, peaches, etc. The origins of this art form are uncertain. According to the records, He Zhou Ji (核舟記) by Wei Xue-yi of the Ming Dynasty, and He Gong Ji (核工記) by Song Qi-feng of the Qing Dynasty, fruit pit carving had certainly achieved high standards by the time of the Ming Dynasty. There are few fruit pit carvings left from more ancient times. This text probes into the master pieces of the fruit pit carvings in the Qing Dynasty. It also includes some outstanding works by current professional fruit pit carvers, including Chen Su-ying, Ru Bor-ping, Qiu Ren and Chen Xiang-ming. Each work displays excellent composition with fine and smooth incisions.

The micro-carvings are presented in digital microscopic photographs to reveal exquisite styles and features and greater details than those published before in books, without regrets. With arrangement and research, I hope to provide our compatriots who are fond of ivory and fruit pit micro-carvings with a new perspective and spirit of this art form.