大维德与故宫博物院文物展览的因缘

Percival David and The Palace Museum Heritage Exhibitions

大维德是海外公认的20世纪最具宫廷欣赏趣味的中国陶瓷收藏家,他的收藏与他早期在故宫博物院的经历有密切的关系。同时,大维德对早期故宫博物院的文物展览也起着十分重要的推动作用,他不仅是宋、元、明瓷器展览的赞助人,而且也是这个展览的实际策划者。作为故宫博物院顾问,他还直接参与了故宫其他一些重要文物展览的组织工作。在他的运作下,故宫文物于1935年第一次走出国门在伦敦展出。然而,由于大维德生前留下的文字稀少,国内相关研究也十分薄弱,致使他生平中这段与故宫相关的经历一直模糊不清。本文试图以故宫档案中的一手资料为依据,结合西方学者的研究成果,对大维德与故宫文物展览的关系进行考证,客观地解读当时的历史情境,以澄清有关大维德个案研究中一些以讹传讹的错误。

Percival David, an overseas-acknowledged Chinese porcelain collector with the most royal tastes in the 20th century, has close relationship with the Palace Museum in his earlier experience during which he played an important role in promoting cultural relics exhibitions. He once served as the sponsor and planner of the exhibition of porcelains of Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties and consultant to some other important cultural relic exhibitions. Under his strategies, the Palace Museum heritage exhibition was first held abroad in London in 1935. However, there are scarce printed records or domestic researches on him so that his early life concerned with the Palace remains obscure. This paper explores his links with the Palace Museum exhibitions with the first-hand materials from the Palace Museum and research achievements by Western scholars in order to seek clarification of the situation of that time, to clear up the misunderstandings about Percival David in academic circle.