英国前高官明清瓷器收藏引发继承纷争
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.
一套独特的17世纪明代瓷器收藏在周末被分割给不同继承人，此前曾经是玛格丽特•撒切尔(Margaret Thatcher)顾问的迈克尔•巴特勒爵士(Sir Michael Butler)的四个子女之间爆发了激烈家庭纷争。
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.
英格兰高等法院此前已裁定，这套502件的收藏必须在四个兄弟姐妹之间分割，尽管较小的两个孩子——凯瑟琳(Katharine)和查尔斯(Charles)——为了把这些陶瓷文物保留在他们在多赛特郡(Dorset)专门建造的博物馆而打了一场激烈的法律战。
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”.
曾经担任欧盟委员会(European Commission)常驻代表的巴特勒爵士，在50多年前开始收集这些特点鲜明的蓝/白色陶瓷。一位专家曾将他的藏品形容为“世界上同类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年去世后，家里的麻烦马上暴露出来。两个年长的子女——卡罗琳(Caroline)和詹姆斯(James)——希望在四个孩子间平分这些藏品，但凯瑟琳和查尔斯认为，巴特勒爵士生前表达了把这些文物收藏于一处的愿望。
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)在他的法庭裁决书中指出，尽管巴特勒爵士的愿望可能“具有一定的道德地位……但它们没有法律意义”。
The case hinged on an arcane piece of property law — section 188 of the Law of Property Act 1925 — governing the division of “chattels”.
本案的准绳是物权法中一条晦涩难懂的规定，即有关“动产”分割的1925年《财产法》(Law of Property Act 1925)第188条。
“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.”
“它非常神秘难懂，因为动产以所谓的‘不分割份数’拥有是相当罕见的，”Harcus Sinclair律所合伙人、代表凯瑟琳和查尔斯的律师基思•布鲁斯-史密斯(Keith Bruce-Smith)表示。“判例法在这个领域如此缺乏先例：有一个案例涉及在相互争夺的所有者之间分割一套三件家具。”
Law firm Bircham Dyson Bell and counsel from XXIV Old Buildings that acted on behalf of Caroline and James were both unavailable for comment.
记者联系不上代表卡罗琳和詹姆斯的两家律所—— Bircham Dyson Bell 和 XXIV Old Buildings——的律师请其置评。
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（在法庭上被称为“罐”）跨越明清两个朝代，它们有800万英镑的保险，但真实价值很可能达到数千万英镑。2014年，一个明代小碗在苏富比(Sotheby’s)香港拍得近4000万美元，说明收藏家（特别是来自中国的收藏家）对那个时期文物的兴趣极为强烈。
“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.
“那是一个相当棘手的时期，因为它不是容易确定年份的常规官窑瓷器，”独立的中国艺术品研究者康蕊君(Regina Krahl)表示。“那个时期发生了许多事情：朝代发生了更迭，这是真正反映那个时期的少数收藏之一。
“There’s nothing like it in China, and there is nothing of its breadth and depth anywhere else in the world.”
“中国境内没有类似的收藏，世界其他地方有类似收藏，但在广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.
专门为这些藏品在Mapperton建造的博物馆现在面临变数。该馆在2010年开张。
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，这座博物馆魅力的一部分在于研究人员和学生能够用手拿起这些脆弱的文物细细端详。“那是一个理想的环境，一切都公开和精美地陈列，”她说。“你可以拿起你想看的展品，把它翻过来认真观察。”
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儿凯瑟琳•巴特勒表示，分割藏品的裁决让她极为难过。
“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.”
“这真的是极其令人心烦意乱和震惊的，”她说。“当我的父亲开始收集时，每月有两次拍卖——现在你每年遇上两次拍卖会就算幸运了。这简直是你再也找不到的东西。”
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.
凯瑟琳•巴特勒表示，这批收藏品被分割后，博物馆很可能关闭。“没有人想看一半藏品，”她补充说。
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.
此案势必将进入上诉阶段，各方都承诺在最终判决出炉之前不出售任何文物。如果获准上诉，那么这场法律战还将延续好几个月，最终结果将决定英国最精湛的17世纪中国陶瓷品收藏的未来。
