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Topaza Pyra

Fiery Topaz

Pl. 67, Vol. II · p.67 · 1850 · Gould's Hummingbirds · John Gould · 1849-1887

学名: Topaza Pyra
合集: 古尔德蜂鸟图谱
绘者: John Gould（约翰·古尔德）
年代: 1850
图版号: Pl. 67, Vol. II
原书页码: p.67
授权: CC0 1.0 Universal (Public domain)

关于本图版

此图原刊于《古尔德蜂鸟图谱》（Gould's Hummingbirds），绘者为约翰·古尔德，成书于 1849—1887 年间。图中描绘的是 Topaza Pyra，归入蜂鸟科（Trochilidae）。

全编共收录 421 幅图版，本图是其中一幅，原书将其列为 Pl. 67, Vol. II，见第 67 页，版式为纵幅。图为公有领域原件的修复扫描，构图与设色未经改动。

原书文字（英文 / 法文）

The Upper Rio Negro

The late Mr. George Loddiges of Hackney, whose love for the Humming Birds was only equalled by his kind and amiable disposition, more than once said to me, “I think the Trochilus pella is the finest of all the Trochilidæ, and I believe it will always remain so, for we cannot imagine a more beautiful species.”

Had not his premature death deprived me of a friend, and natural science of one of its most enthusiastic devotees, I should have hastened with a corresponding enthusiasm to show him this new and still more lovely bird, well knowing that he would feel equal pleasure with myself in the discovery of a species still finer than that which he had ever regarded as the finest of its tribe: this gratification is however denied me; but another is still within my reach, that of stating that it was the sight of his fine collection, ever thrown open with the utmost readiness to my inspection, that first turned my attention to this beautiful group of birds, and determined me, since his lamented death, to attempt the delineation in a suitable manner of the forms in which he took so deep an interest.

The native habitat of the Topaza pyra, as far as we yet know, is the higher part of the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Upper Amazon; it is in this locality that all the specimens which have been sent to Europe were obtained: the interesting nest which I have figured was procured at Barra, and given to me by W. H. Edwards, Esq., author of ‘A Voyage up the River Amazon.”

In the size of its body and the length of its wings the T. pyra is somewhat larger than T. pella, while at the same time it has a smaller bill, a more circumscribed gorget, a larger proportion of deep velvety black on the head and surrounding the gorget; the whole of the body of a rich fiery scarlet, without any pectoral band of crimson; and, lastly, the three lateral feathers on each side purplish black instead of buff, and of a narrower form—features by which it may be at once distinguished from its near ally.

The nest is precisely similar in form and materials to that of T. pella, and the eggs are also white and two in number.

Abdomen, sides, back and shoulders luminous fiery red; head, ear-coverts, back of the neck and a band crossing the lower part of the neck deep velvety black; throat luminous pale green, passing into rich orange in the centre; two centre tail-feathers purplish green, the remainder deep purple; the feather on each side the centre ones much elongated, and crossing each other near the base; upper tail-coverts luminous light green with red reflexions; under tail-coverts luminous green; primaries purplish brown; black; feet blackish brown.

The figures are of the natural size.

References

Trochilus (Topaza) pyra, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xiv. p. 85.
Topaza pyra, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 110, Topaza, sp. 3.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 73.

十二观

略纵 1.12∶1
1850 年刊
图版 67, Vol. II

这不是词条，是一条看画的次序：先站定看整体，再看名字与形色、构图与刀工，然后问它几时开、从哪里来、经了谁的手；最后是中国诗文——同一朵花，中国古人是怎么看的。十二观读完，这幅图就打开了。

第一眼

六法者何？一、气韵生动是也；二、骨法用笔是也；三、应物象形是也；四、随类赋彩是也；五、经营位置是也；六、传移模写是也。

—— 南齐·谢赫《古画品录》

一千五百年前的六条标准：气韵、用笔、形似、设色、构图、临摹。你在这幅图上一样样对过去，就是一次完整的读画。这一幅略高于宽，落点在中央偏上那只鸟的头部。第二步凑近一寸：看线与色的交界，色有没有压住线，线有没有断。第三步，把视线放到最深的那一小块：整幅的用色秩序，都是从那里排开的。
名与实

学名 Topaza pyra：前一词是属，管它归在哪一类；后一词是种加词，管它在这一类里凭什么与众不同。双名制的好处是唯一：全世界叫这个名字的，只能是这一种。此幅尚无通行中文名，姑以学名相称；在没有本地名字的地方，学名就是它唯一的身份证。
形与色

蜂鸟为美洲最小之鸟，喙细长如针，舌分叉成管，可伸入花心吸蜜；翼小而振频极高，能悬停、能倒飞。此幅未作色相归档，只能就形制论。看羽：先看覆羽的层次，再看飞羽的排列，最后才看颜色——颜色是最后才被注意到的部分。
构图与呼吸

画幅略高于宽，鸟身居中偏上，视线落在头部与喙。（高宽比约 1.12∶1）全幅只画一只，不作解剖附图——这类图更近于“观赏”，而非“鉴定”。试着用拇指遮住空白处——画面立刻变闷；放开，它才重新“喘上气”。留白，是给主体让出的气口。
一刀一色

十九世纪后半叶，石版与彩色石印渐成主流：颜色可以直接印出，不再依赖手工，线条反倒退居其次。图像的“准确”提高了，手性却淡了。拿放大镜（或手机微距）看三处：喙缘、覆羽、题名。线若连续不断，是刻的；色若越过轮廓半毫米，是手涂的。
时序

热带美洲几乎全年可见，花期即其季节；温带种类的蜂鸟则随花北迁，一年往返数千公里。图上所记的 1850 年是刊行之年，不是采到那只鸟的年份；真正的观察记录通常比出版早一两年。要判断一幅图的季节，不必看题跋：看叶的老嫩、花与果是否同在枝上，也就八九不离十了。
故土

仅产美洲，自阿拉斯加南部至火地岛，以安第斯山最为繁盛。中土无蜂鸟，汉籍不载，晚清海外游记始见其名。这类植物的旅程比图版本身更长：从一座山到另一座山，从一种语言换到另一种语言。
书与人

《古尔德蜂鸟图谱》（Gould's Hummingbirds）由约翰·古尔德绘，成于1849-1887。此幅为其中图版 67, Vol. II，见原书第 67 页。图版今属公有领域，可以自由取用；但纸上那层手工上色，仍是两百年前某一个人的手。
诗境

穿花蛱蝶深深见，点水蜻蜓款款飞。

—— 唐·杜甫《曲江二首》

中土无蜂鸟，然“穿花”之态，杜甫早已写过：贴着花心走，是采蜜者的共同姿态。诗以气行，画以形立；两种“看”叠在一起，才是看画的意思。
文心

竖划三寸，当千仞之高；横墨数尺，体百里之迥。

—— 南朝宋·宗炳《画山水序》

三寸的竖线可当千仞高山，几尺横墨能容百里之远。一只蜂鸟只有拇指大，画家却要在几厘米里放下整片花丛——尺度从来不是障碍。古尔德《蜂鸟图谱》（1849—1887）以石版手工上色，金箔衬底，使羽色在纸上仍有金属光；这套图册本身就是十九世纪印刷与收藏狂热合流的产物。读古文不必求全解，先认下这一句：它把“看花”换成了“看人”，你再看这幅图，眼里就多了一层。
花语

阿兹特克以蜂鸟为战神与太阳的化身；欧洲维多利亚时代则以蜂鸟为收藏与装饰的极致，百万只羽毛被做成胸饰。中国旧籍无此鸟，故无象征——这空白本身，就是一部博物学交流史。象征多半来自形状与气味：像杯的、像泪的、香的、臭的——先有形状，后有意义。
带走一双眼睛

把这三件事带走：先整体后细节；先线后色；先看画再翻书。任何一张老图版，都可以用这三条读。图谱的用意是“以备查考”，看久了却会忘记查考：1850 年的一个人，为一只鸟花了整整一天。