A BRONZE CIRCULAR MIRROR WITH ANIMALS AND INSCRIPTION

SONG DYNASTY (960-1279)

Details

A BRONZE CIRCULAR MIRROR WITH ANIMALS AND INSCRIPTION
SONG DYNASTY (960-1279)
Softly cast, the knob encircled by concentric bands of petals and stamen and a wide band of six animals gamboling amidst foliate scroll, below narrow sawtooth borders on the walls of the ridge that separates them from a lengthy inscription incorporating a rectangular cartouche enclosing a maker's name, all within another sawtooth border
7 1/16 in. (18 cm.) diam., 7/16 in. (1 cm.) thick, box
1233.3g

Provenance

Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, New York, acquired in Hong Kong, 1990.

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Lot Essay

Compare the mirror of this type illustrated in Wenwu 1982:2, p. 10, fig. 28. The decoration on both the excavated and present mirrors is based on Tang dynasty prototypes such as the mirror of comparable size illustrated by Ju-hsi Chou in Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000, p. 63, no. 51.

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