董其昌的印章——無年款作品繫年新論（英文）

Dong Qichang’s Seals:A More Rigorous Approach to the Dating of Undated Works

研究中國明清書畫的學者,在面對一個藝術家的無年款作品時,通常會根據由這個藝術家的年款作品所建立起來的風格序列,嘗試爲無年款作品作最妥適的繫年。然而,把一件無年款作品根據風格來繫年的做法,會導致種種詮釋上的分歧。本文試圖對晚明書畫家董其昌具年款作品上的印章作排序分析,以建立這些個别印章的使用時期。在此基礎上,董氏無年款作品上的印章,通過排比,常會爲我們提供一種比僅從風格入手來判斷年代更有說服力、更爲精確的繫年方法。

The art historian who studies later Chinese painting and calligraphy,faced with an artist’s undated work,usually dates it on the basis of its style,inserting it into the body of dated works by the artist at the point where it seems stylistically best suited.But precisely where an undated work fits within an artist’s stylistic development is open to any number of interpretations.This essay attempts to demonstrate that for the many undated works by the late Ming artist Dong Qichang on which the artist has impressed his seals,the seals frequently afford a far more accurate means of dating than a judgment based on style alone can provide.