EASTERN HAN DYNASTY (25-220)

Details

A BRONZE 'TLV' MIRROR
EASTERN HAN DYNASTY (25-220)
The central knob rising from a quatrefoil motif within a square cast in high relief with twelve nipples separating the characters of an inscription, the outer field with 'TLV' pattern, eight nipples and various celestial animals including the Black Turtle, a dragon holding the sun disc enclosing a bird, a tiger holding the moon enclosing a toad, a phoenix, various other birds, and Daoist immortals, within narrow bands enclosing an inscription and hatchured lines, all below a dogtooth band and a band of clouds, with blackish patina
8¼ in. (21 cm.) diam., box

Provenance

Acquired in the late 1970s to early 1980s.

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Lot Essay

Compare the silvery bronze mirror cast with similar decoration, in the Donald H. Graham Jr. Collection, illustrated by Toru Nakano, Bronze Mirrors from Ancient China, Hong Kong, 1994, pp. 140-1, where the author describes the design as a Han representation of the universe.

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