英國前高官明清瓷器收藏引發繼承紛爭

A unique collection of 17th-century Ming dynasty porcelain was broken up at the weekend following an acrimonious family squabble between the four children of Sir Michael Butler, a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher.

一套獨特的17世紀明代瓷器收藏在週末被分割給不同繼承人，此前曾經是瑪格麗特•撒切爾(Margaret Thatcher)顧問的邁克爾•巴特勒爵士(Sir Michael Butler)的四個子女之間爆發了激烈家庭紛爭。

The high court had ruled that the 502-piece collection must be divided between the four siblings, despite a bitter battle fought by the two younger children, Katharine and Charles, to retain the ceramics in their purpose-built museum in Dorset.

英格蘭高等法院此前已裁定，這套502件的收藏必須在四個兄弟姐妹之間分割，儘管較小的兩個孩子——凱瑟琳(Katharine)和查爾斯(Charles)——爲了把這些陶瓷文物保留在他們在多賽特郡(Dorset)專門建造的博物館而打了一場激烈的法律戰。

Sir Michael, a former permanent representative to the European Commission, started collecting the distinctive blue and white ceramics more than 50 years ago. One expert has described it as “the finest collection of its kind in the world”.

曾經擔任歐盟委員會(European Commission)常駐代表的巴特勒爵士，在50多年前開始收集這些特點鮮明的藍/白色陶瓷。一位專家曾將他的藏品形容爲“世界上同類收藏中最精湛的收藏”。

Trouble began immediately after Sir Michael died in 2013. Caroline and James, the elder siblings, wanted to split the collection equally among the four children but Katharine and Charles believed that Sir Michael had indicated a desire to keep the ceramics together.

巴特勒爵士在2013年去世後，家裏的麻煩馬上暴露出來。兩個年長的子女——卡羅琳(Caroline)和詹姆斯(James)——希望在四個孩子間平分這些藏品，但凱瑟琳和查爾斯認爲，巴特勒爵士生前表達了把這些文物收藏於一處的願望。

In his court ruling, however, judge Simon Barker noted that while Sir Michael’s wishes might “have some moral standing . . . they are of no legal significance”.

然而，法官西蒙•巴克(Simon Barker)在他的法庭裁決書中指出，儘管巴特勒爵士的願望可能“具有一定的道德地位……但它們沒有法律意義”。

The case hinged on an arcane piece of property law — section 188 of the Law of Property Act 1925 — governing the division of “chattels”.

本案的準繩是物權法中一條晦澀難懂的規定，即有關“動產”分割的1925年《財產法》(Law of Property Act 1925)第188條。

“It is arcane in that it is quite rare for chattels to be owned in what is called undivided shares,” said Keith Bruce-Smith, partner at Harcus Sinclair, which acted on behalf of Katharine and Charles. “There is such a paucity of case law in this area: one case involved trying to split a three-piece suite between competing owners.”

“它非常神祕難懂，因爲動產以所謂的‘不分割份數’擁有是相當罕見的，”Harcus Sinclair律所合夥人、代表凱瑟琳和查爾斯的律師基思•布魯斯-史密斯(Keith Bruce-Smith)表示。“判例法在這個領域如此缺乏先例：有一個案例涉及在相互爭奪的所有者之間分割一套三件傢俱。”

Law firm Bircham Dyson Bell and counsel from XXIV Old Buildings that acted on behalf of Caroline and James were both unavailable for comment.

記者聯繫不上代表卡羅琳和詹姆斯的兩家律所—— Bircham Dyson Bell 和 XXIV Old Buildings——的律師請其置評。

Straddling the period between the Ming and Qing dynasties, the “pots” — as they were described in court — are insured for ￡8m but their true value is likely to stretch into the tens of millions of pounds. In 2014, a small Ming dynasty era bowl sold for almost $40m at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, indicating the strength of interest in the period, particularly from collectors in China.

本案的藏品（在法庭上被稱爲“罐”）跨越明清兩個朝代，它們有800萬英鎊的保險，但真實價值很可能達到數千萬英鎊。2014年，一個明代小碗在蘇富比(Sotheby’s)香港拍得近4000萬美元，說明收藏家（特別是來自中國的收藏家）對那個時期文物的興趣極爲強烈。

“It’s a period which is rather difficult, as it’s not the regular Imperial porcelain which is easy to date,” said Regina Krahl, an independent researcher on Chinese art. “It was a period when a lot happened: there was a change of dynasties and it is one of the few collections that really reflects that period.

“那是一個相當棘手的時期，因爲它不是容易確定年份的常規官窯瓷器，”獨立的中國藝術品研究者康蕊君(Regina Krahl)表示。“那個時期發生了許多事情：朝代發生了更迭，這是真正反映那個時期的少數收藏之一。

“There’s nothing like it in China, and there is nothing of its breadth and depth anywhere else in the world.”

“中國境內沒有類似的收藏，世界其他地方有類似收藏，但在廣度和深度上比不上它。”

A question mark also hangs over the future of the purpose-built museum in Mapperton, which opened in 2010.

專門爲這些藏品在Mapperton建造的博物館現在面臨變數。該館在2010年開張。

Part of the museum’s charm, said Ms Krahl, was the fact that researchers and students were able to handle the fragile ceramics. “It was ideal in that everything was openly and beautifully displayed,” she said. “You could just pick up what you wanted and turn it over and look at it in more detail.”

康蕊君表示，這座博物館魅力的一部分在於研究人員和學生能夠用手拿起這些脆弱的文物細細端詳。“那是一個理想的環境，一切都公開和精美地陳列，”她說。“你可以拿起你想看的展品，把它翻過來認真觀察。”

Katharine Butler, Sir Michael’s youngest daughter, says she is devastated by the decision to break up the collection.

巴特勒爵士最小的女兒凱瑟琳•巴特勒表示，分割藏品的裁決讓她極爲難過。

“It really is extraordinarily upsetting and shocking,” she said. “When my father started collecting, there were two sales a month — and now you would be lucky to have two a year. This is simply stuff that you don’t find any more.”

“這真的是極其令人心煩意亂和震驚的，”她說。“當我的父親開始收集時，每月有兩次拍賣——現在你每年遇上兩次拍賣會就算幸運了。這簡直是你再也找不到的東西。”

With the break-up of the collection, the museum is likely to close, Ms Butler said. “No one is going to want to see half a collection,” she added.

凱瑟琳•巴特勒表示，這批收藏品被分割後，博物館很可能關閉。“沒有人想看一半藏品，”她補充說。

The case is set to go to appeal, with all parties committed to not selling any pieces until the final judgment. If leave for appeal is granted, then the battle will rumble on for many more months — the future of the Britain’s finest collection of 17th-century Chinese ceramics hanging in the balance.

此案勢必將進入上訴階段，各方都承諾在最終判決出爐之前不出售任何文物。如果獲准上訴，那麼這場法律戰還將延續好幾個月，最終結果將決定英國最精湛的17世紀中國陶瓷品收藏的未來。