A BRONZE CIRCULAR MIRROR WITH ANIMALS AND INSCRIPTION

SUI/EARLY TANG DYNASTY, 6TH-7TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE CIRCULAR MIRROR WITH ANIMALS AND INSCRIPTION
SUI/EARLY TANG DYNASTY, 6TH-7TH CENTURY
The thick mirror finely cast in high relief with five lively animals racing around the knob within a sawtooth border below the circular ridge that separates the main field from an inscription set below a sawtooth band in the deep sides of the outer rim cast on top with a narrow band of foliate scroll below the upright edge, with silvery grey patina
4¾ in. (12.1 cm.) diam., 5/8 in. (1.5 cm.) thick, box
675.6g

Provenance

Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, New York, acquired in Hong Kong, 1988.

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Lot Essay

Compare the mirror of this type with four rather than five animals, which also appears to be quite thick, that was excavated in 1988 at Nanliwang village, Changan, Shaanxi province, illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 16 - Mirrors, Beijing, 1998, p. 106, no. 104. Another mirror of this type, also with four animals, is illustrated by T. Nakano et al., Bronze Mirrors from Ancient China: Donald H. Graham Jr. Collection, 1994, pp. 204-5, no. 73. See, also, the similar mirror of slightly larger size (12.7 cm.) with five animals from the Mengdiexuan Collection sold at China Guardian, 12 May 2011, lot 798.

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