A LARGE SILVERY BRONZE EIGHT-LOBED MIRROR

TANG DYNASTY (618-907)

Details

A LARGE SILVERY BRONZE EIGHT-LOBED MIRROR
TANG DYNASTY (618-907)
The central knob surrounded by a crisply cast scaly dragon striding majestically amidst vapor within a raised border, the outer field with vapor and birds alternating below each lobe of the rim, with silvery surface and areas of malachite and ferrous encrustation on both sides
9 5/8 in. (24.5 cm.) across, box

Provenance

Acquired in Hong Kong, 1986.

Exhibited

The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, Singapore, 2000, no. 107.
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 2002-2006.

Further details

EXHIBITIONS
An Anthology of Chinese Art, Min Chiu Silver Jubilee Exhibition, Min Chiu Society and Hong Kong Urban Council, Hong Kong, 1985.

An Exhibition of Chinese Bronzes, C.T. Loo & Co., New York, 1939.

Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic Society and Hong Kong Urban Council, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1990.

Ancient Chinese bronzes from an English private collection, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1999.

Ancient Chinese bronzes from the Stoclet and Wessén collections, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1975.

Art & Imitation in China, University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 2006

Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Catalogue of an Exhibition Presented by the Oriental Ceramic Society and the Fung Ping Shan Museum, University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 1986.

Bronzen aus dem alten China, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, 1975.

Chinese and Korean Art from the Collections of Dr. Franco Vannotti, Hans Popper and Others, Eskenazi Ltd., London. 1989.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth: Gems of Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 2002/1/18 - 2006/8/30.

Mostra D'Arte Cinese, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, 1954.

Ostasiatische Kunst und Chinoiserie, Staatenhaus, Cologne, 1953.

Spirit and Ritual: The Morse Collection of Ancient Chinese Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982. This exhibition traveled from 1982 to 1984: The Elvehjem Museum of Art; The Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art; The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art; The Memphis-Brooks Museum of Art; The Indianapolis Museum of Art; The Joseph and Margaret Muscarelle Museum of Art.

Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Selected Chinese Works of Art, Michael Weisbrod, New York, 1986.

The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore, 2000.

The Mount Trust Collection of Chinese Art, Victoria & Albert Museum, London 1970.

Twenty Five Years: Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Gilt Bronzes, Inlaid Bronzes, Silver, Jades, Ceramics, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 1985.

Weltkunst aus Privatbesitz, Ausstellung der Kölner Museen. Cologne Museum of Art, 1968.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ayers, John. The Mount Trust Collection of Chinese Art. London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 1970.

Bagley, Robert. Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Washington D.C., and Cambridge, Mass.: The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 1987.

Barnard, Noel and Cheung Kwong-yue. Rubbings and Hand Copies of Bronze Inscriptions in Chinese, Japanese, European, American and Australasian Collections. Taipei: Yee Wen Publishing Co., 1978.

Yin Zhou jin wen ji cheng: xiu ding zeng bu ben. 6 vols. Beijing:Zhonghua Shuju, 2007.

Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. Stockholm.
Brinker, Helmut. Bronzen aus dem alten China. Zurich: Museum Rietberg, 1975.

Chen Mengjia. Yin zhou qingtongqi fenlei tulu. (In Shu seidoki bunrui zuroku: A Corpus of Chinese Bronzes in American Collections). 2 vols. Tokyo: Kyuko Shoin, 1977.

Chen Rentao, ed. Jin gui lun gu chuji. Hong Kong, 1952.

Chen Wangheng. Chinese Bronzes: Ferocious Beauty. Singapore: Asiapac Books Ltd., 2001.

Weltkunst Aus Privatbesitz, Ausstellung der Kolner Museen. Kunsthalle Köln, 18 May - 4 August, 1968.

Deydier, Christian. Les Bronzes Archa,uiques Chinois, Xia & Shang. vol. I. Paris: Les Editions d'Art et d'Histoire, 1995.

Ancient Chinese bronzes from the Stoclet and Wessén collections. London: Eskenazi Ltd., 1975.

Twenty Five Years: Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Gilt Bronzes, Inlaid Bronzes, Silver, Jades, Ceramics. London: Eskenazi Ltd., 1985.

Chinese and Korean Art from the collections of Dr. Franco Vannotti, Hans Popper and others. London: Eskenazi Ltd., 1989.

Ancient Chinese bronzes from an English private collection. London: Eskenazi Ltd., 1999.

Fang Junyi. Zhui yi zhai yiqi kuanzhi kaoshi. N.p., 1935. (Rong Geng and ZhangWeichi 1958)

Hayashi Minao. In Shu jidai seidoki no kenkyu (In Shu seidoki soran ichi). (Comprehensive Studies on the Bronze Vessels of the Yin and Zhou.) 2 vols. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1984.

An Anthology of Chinese Art, Min Chiu Silver Jubilee Exhibition. Hong Kong 25.10.1985-15.1.1986. Hong Kong: Min Chiu Society and Hong Kong Urban Council, 1985.

Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Catalogue of an Exhibition Presented by the Oriental Ceramic Society and the Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong, 24th October to 13th December, 1986.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire on Earth: Gems of Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Museum of Art, 2004.

Art & Imitation in China. Hong Kong: The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong Ltd., 2006.

Huang Jun. Zun gu zhai jin shiji. Shanghai, 1936, 1990 (reprint).

Karlgren, Bernhard. "New Studies on Chinese Bronzes", BMFEA, no. 9. (1937), pp. 1-117.

Karlgren, Bernhard. "Marginalia on Some Bronze Albums", BMFEA, no. 31(1959), pp. 289-331.

Karlgren, Bernhard. "Marginalia on Some Bronze Albums II" BMFEA, no. 32, (1960), pp. 1-24.

Krahl, Regina. "Asian Art in London - Preview Highlights", Hong Kong: Orientations Magazine, 1999.

Kümmel, Otto. Jörg Trübner zum Gedächtnis, Berlin: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1930.

Li Xueqin. The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes. Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2000.

Li Xueqin and Allen, Sarah. Chinese Bronzes: A Selection from European Collections. Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1995.

Liu Tizhi. Xiaojiao Jingge jinwen taben. 1935. (Rong Geng and Zhang Weichi 1958, p. 149)

An Exhibition of Chinese Bronzes. New York: C.T. Loo & Co., 1939.

Luo Zhenyu. Yin wen cun. N.p. 1917.

Luo Zhenyu. Zhen Song Tang Jijin tu. Dalian: 1935.

Luo Zhenyu. Sandai jijin wen cun. N.p., 1937.

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Rawson, Jessica, and Emma C. Bunker. Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes. Hong Kong: The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, 1990.
Rong Geng. Shang-Zhou yiqi tongkao (The Bronzes of Shang and Chou). 2 vols. Beijing: Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1941.

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So, Jenny F. Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections. Washington D.C., and Cambridge, Mass.: The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 1990.

Important Early Chinese Ceramics, Archaic Bronzes, Sculpture, Silver and Lacquer from the Works of Art Collection of the British Rail Pension Fund, London, 1989.

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Lot Essay

The type of dragon seen on this mirror, with its distinct features including the elongated horned head, long neck, legs set wide apart, and tail wrapped around the left back leg, appears to be unique to the Tang dynasty. It can be seen on large mirrors which began to appear around the mid-8th century. Another large eight-lobed mirror finely cast with a similar dragon, in the Donald H. Graham Collection, is illustrated by Toru Nakano, Bronze Mirrors from Ancient China, Hong Kong, 1994, pp. 238-9, no. 89. The dragon is seen boldly striding through more numerous clouds of similar type, within a narrow raised border that is closer to the clouds in the lobes of the outer field than on the present mirror. A similar dragon and clouds can be seen on a smaller (10.2 cm. diam.) circular mirror illustrated by Ju-hsi Chou, Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Mirrors, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000, no. 72, and on another smaller (15.6 cm. diam.) mirror illustrated in Ancient Bronze Mirrors from the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2005, pp. 256-57, no. 90, where the head of the dragon is turned backward to bite the central knob.

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