A RARE BRONZE MIRROR

THREE KINGDOMS/WESTERN JIN, 3RD-4TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE BRONZE MIRROR
THREE KINGDOMS/WESTERN JIN, 3RD-4TH CENTURY
With a large flattened knob surrounded by four petal-shaped cartouches enclosing two dragons, a deer and a man with a spear seated on an elephant, separated by paired confronted phoenixes, all within an outer scalloped border enclosing various animals and birds, and all reserved on hatchured grounds, with mottled grey and milky-green patina
6¾ in. (17.3 cm.) diam., box

Provenance

Acquired in Hong Kong, 1990.

Exhibited

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 2002-2006.

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Lot Essay

A similar mirror, with some variations in the design, but the same paired phoenixes and various animals in the scalloped border, dated Han, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 28 - Bronze Articles for Daily Use, Hong Kong, 2006, no. 97. One in the Cleveland Museum of Art is illustrated by Ju-hsi Chou, Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000, p. 51, no. 37, where the author refers to a similar mirror excavated from a Western Jin tomb in Xin'gan, Jiangxi. Another, excavated in 1975 in Echeng, Hubei province, and dated Western Jin, is illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 16 - Bronze Mirrors, Beijing 1998, p. 100, no. 98.

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