我与古歙砚收藏

我是一名公务员，工作之余喜爱收藏古玩，玩得比较成功的是古歙砚专题收藏。经过十余年的寻觅，目前我的古歙砚藏品已经逾百，其中颇有一些不可多得的唐宋精品。这样的数量与质量，使我已跻身于个人收藏队伍中的前茅，并受到古砚界专家同行的首肯和称赞。

古歙砚收藏源于偶然

初入收藏圈我与大多数人一样，玩的是陶瓷。但吾工薪阶层，收入不丰，不可能到拍卖场上一掷千金地拍回个唐宋名瓷或者明清官窑所出的稀世精品，所以我搞收藏只能到地摊市场去转悠淘宝。可惜那时我既乏名师点拨，又缺一双明察秋毫的慧眼，加之杭州玩陶瓷的人又多，所得自然只能是一些档次不高的民窑大路货。于是我常常叩问自己：“敢问路在何方?”

不想十多年前的一个礼拜天，我又漫无目标地到地摊古玩市场闲逛，偶见一位操上海口音的摊主正在出售一枚紫石老砚。拿到手里细看，砚一侧与砚底密密麻麻地刻满隶书铭文，落款竟是“扬州八怪”的金农!一问价，出口就要3000元!据说金农题铭之砚，价值当在数万。可惜自己对砚的知识一无所知，加上金农题铭用的偏偏又是不熟悉的隶书，岂敢贸然下单?

翌日，我到浙江展览馆的艺术书店翻阅金农书画集。一看砚上的隶书竟与书中所刊相同，方知那方紫砚没准就是真品。接下来的几个周末我都去地摊市场寻找那位摊主，但是此人再也没有出现。看来机遇只青睐有准备的人，玩收藏缺乏知识实在不能得到真品!

吃一堑长一智，事后我咬咬牙买了一本蔡鸿茹、胡中泰主编的《中国名砚鉴赏》研读。

收藏专题成于文化积累

时隔一年多，我在“二百大”地摊古玩市场发现了一方又高又大青黑色的太史砚，这令我一阵惊喜，连忙上手端详，只见砚的左侧刻有十二个草书字，文后阴刻“子昂”两字印章一枚。但此砚残缺不全，右砚墙缺了一大块，砚额亦有缺口。摊主开价500元，我还价300元他还不肯。当时觉得该砚虽不多见但品相也实在太差，于是又被我放弃。

那时我在镇机关工作，这天轮到值班，到了办公室忽又想到昨日那只砚台，总感到砚上的印章似曾相识。于是我找出印书一查，天哪!砚上“子昂”字与赵孟圆朱文印“赵氏子昂”的“子昂”两字篆法十分相近，难道这是赵孟遗砚?!于是我赶紧请假赶回城里，直奔“二百大”市场，但那摊主早已不见了踪影。

好不容易挨到下个周末，我一早又去了“二百大”市场“狩猎”。“工夫不负有心人”，我终于等到了那位来自临平的摊主，摊主说：“那方破砚上周卖了。”唉，眼睁睁看着煮熟的鸭子飞了，真让我痛悔不己!转念一想，该砚的印章款识得的人不多，如果是被杭州的古玩商收去了，兴许有可能经过加价再出售，于是我下定决心，就是踏遍杭城所有古玩市场，也要把它买回来。

我利用双休日一个市场接一个市场、一家商铺接一家商铺地寻觅。皇天不负苦心人，这样“淘宝”淘了近三个月，终于在吴宅文物监管品市场的一家商铺内发现了它。当时这方古砚灰尘满面地与另几方旧砚一起被放置在一块长条柜之上，这证明店主果然不识其印章款，只是把它当作一方普通的老砚看待。于是我强压内心的喜悦，不动声色地与他讨价还价，最终使我如愿以偿将其收归囊中。

赵孟是中国大书法家，曾长期生活于德清、杭州。砚上那十二字铭文为“世路难，人心异。惟石交，不相弃。”不仅其笔法、结构与赵书契合，而且也符合他当时的心境。赵孟的一幅书法作品拍卖价超过一万元，他的遗砚当然有相当的价值，虽然品相不佳，但它仍然不失为一件珍品。

这方宝砚的失而复得，使我领悟到收藏古歙砚极有前途。一来它系中国四大名砚之一，尽管实用价值越来越小，但其历史价值、文物价值却日益显现；二来该砚在目前市面上尚可觅到，价格也较低，不像好的端砚动辄上万，颇值得像我这样的工薪阶层收藏。我觉得收藏需要量力而行，只有适合自己的才能事半功倍。

由收藏而写出多部专著

在多年的收藏实践中，我不断结合在大学中文系所学的知识，系统研读了以宋代唐积《歙州砚谱》为代表的一批古代论述歙砚的文献和资料，同时又尽可能多地接触古歙砚，直接上手仔细观摩，掌握其各种特征，很快我就悟出了门道，使自己的收藏品档次不断提高。一次在古玩市场见到一方背有“婺水列家龙尾细样砚”铭文的宋绿色鱼子纹歙石抄手砚。虽然货主开价较高，我略作还价后便毫不犹豫地果断买下，因为我知道这不是一方普通的古砚，尽管要价不菲却物有所值，大有收藏价值。

嗣后我结合自己的收藏实践与心得，撰写出版了《中国印章歙砚赏玩》一书，并得到了当代中国古砚专家蔡鸿茹、胡中泰的首肯。我的另一部专著《歙砚温故》，也可望在今年内出版。我的古歙砚收藏活动，还被浙江电视台影视文化频道和浙江人民广播电台等作过专题报道。如今，依托收藏研究古歙砚积累的知识，我又撰写了中国历史上第一部关于古澄泥砚研究的专著――《泥砚遗韵》，也即将出版问世。

My Collection of Ancient Inkstones made in Shexian County

By Zhang Fangtong

I work in a government agency and my hobby is antiques. My collection of ancient inkstones made in Shexian County testifies to my dedication and success. This collection numbers nearly 100 inkstones, some made in the Tang (618-907) or Song (960-1279) dynasties. The collection both in quantity and quality enables me to rank as one of the country's best collectors in this field.

It was by accident that I began to collect inkstones. Like most collectors in this field, my interest in antiques at first was in ancient porcelains. But as a government official, I earn limited income. I cannot compete against big collectors at auctions. So all I could do was to visit antique markets frequently. As there were many porcelain collectors in Hangzhou and I lacked professional training, I was not able to spot and get big lucky things. All I collected was something ordinary. I questioned myself for a future as a collector in this field.

One visit to a market more than 10 years ago changed all this. I saw a vendor who spoke in Shanghai accent. He was trying to sell a purple stone inkstone. I examined the piece for a long time. It had a lengthy inscription of small characters on one side written in an official style of calligraphy current in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). It had the name of one of the eight so-called eccentric scholars in Yangzhou during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The seller wanted 3,000 yuan for the inkstone. I didn't know very much about inkstones and could not distinguish between genuine and fake. So I gave up. The next day I checked it out in a bookstore. It turned out that the inkstone was a real thing. In the following weekends, I went to the market again and again, in the hope of finding the seller. But all was in vain.

In order to know about inkstones, I bought a professional book on ancient inkstones and studied all the inkstones listed there. And I made up my mind to focus on inkstones. More than one year later I found an inkstone at an antique market in Hangzhou. The darkish stone piece had an inscription of 12 characters written in cursive style. But the right side was not in the complete shape. The seller wanted 500, I offered 300. We didn't come to any agreement and I left. The next day when I was on duty at the office, I remembered the inkstone I hadn't bought. It occurred to me then that I had seen it somewhere. I went through my reference books painfully at the office. Then I was stunned by my lost opportunity: it could have been an inkstone that belonged to Zhao Mengfu, a famous calligrapher of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) who lived in Hangzhou and Deqing for a long time. I immediately asked for a leave and hurried to the market. The seller was nowhere to be seen. The next weekend came and I went back to the market. The seller was there but he told me that he had sold the inkstone. I was crestfallen. But on second thought I felt I still had a hope of having it. I reasoned that few knew the inscription and probably the buyer would try to resell it somewhere in another antique market. With this hope I combed all the antique markets in the city in following weekends. Nearly three months after I had missed the inkstone, I spotted the lost treasure again. As expected, the seller didn't know its value. It stood on a long bench with many other inkstones. He treated it just as another useless inkstone. I maintained my composure. After some bargain, I bought it.

The acquisition of this treasure enabled me to see two things: first, inkstones made in ancient Shexian County are part of the four major species of China's famed inkstones. Though they have little practical value, they are precious for the historical and cultural reasons. Secondly, these inkstones are still available on the markets. Compared with inkstones made in some other places, they are affordable.

Once I was sure what I should do as a collector, I began to take inkstones made in Shexian County seriously. Over years I have read up on all the literature in this field and studied real things carefully. Now I am a knowledgeable collector.

I have written a book on the inkstones on the basis of my knowledge and collection. The second book will soon be printed later this year. Zhejiang TV has done two special reports on my collection. Relying on my knowledge and collection, I have branched out to study inkstones made of soil. I have written a book on this kind of inkstones and it will soon be published.

(Translated by David)