Lot Essay
A very similar miniature mirror of comparable size (5.7 cm. across) is illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, p. 52, no. 100.
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TANG DYNASTY (618-907)
Details
AN UNUSUAL MINIATURE GILT-BRONZE BELL, ZHONG
TANG DYNASTY (618-907)
Of elliptical section, one side cast in relief with a foliate motif in an upper panel above two flower heads in panels below, with a small suspension loop on top, the exterior and inner clapper gilded; together with a miniature bronze hexafoil mirror, Tang dynasty, of barbed outline and inlaid with a parcel-gilt silver sheet chased with two birds alternating with two lions amidst grapevine surrounding the central knob formed as a crouching animal, all within a slender raised border of conforming outline and reserved on a fine ring-punched ground
Bell 3½ in. (8.9 cm.) high, stand; mirror 2 3/8 in. (6 cm.) across (2)
TANG DYNASTY (618-907)
Of elliptical section, one side cast in relief with a foliate motif in an upper panel above two flower heads in panels below, with a small suspension loop on top, the exterior and inner clapper gilded; together with a miniature bronze hexafoil mirror, Tang dynasty, of barbed outline and inlaid with a parcel-gilt silver sheet chased with two birds alternating with two lions amidst grapevine surrounding the central knob formed as a crouching animal, all within a slender raised border of conforming outline and reserved on a fine ring-punched ground
Bell 3½ in. (8.9 cm.) high, stand; mirror 2 3/8 in. (6 cm.) across (2)
Provenance
Both: J.T. Tai & Co., New York, prior to 1977.
Exhibited
Bell: Early Chinese Miniatures, China Institute in America, New York, 16 March - 29 May 1977, no. 184.
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