MIROIR ET PORTE-MIROIR EN BRONZE

CHINE, DYNASTIE MING (1368-1644)

Details

MIROIR ET PORTE-MIROIR EN BRONZE
CHINE, DYNASTIE MING (1368-1644)
The mirror is cast with a five-clawed dragon leaping amidst clouds above a ground of waves, with an inscription reading Hongwu ershiernian zhengyueri zao, 'Made in the first month of the twenty-second year of Hongwu period' (corresponding to 1389). The qilin stand is cast in a recumbent position, with the head turned to one side, hooves, a beard, a curved horn and flames rising from the haunches. A hollow, cloud-form saddle receptacle holds the bronze mirror.

The mirror: 4 ¼ in. (11 cm.) diam.
The mirror stand: 9 in. (23 cm.) long, wood stand

Provenance

From a European private collection, acquired between the 1960s and the 1990s in the European art market, and thence by descent to the present owner.

Further details

A DATED 'DRAGON' MIRROR AND A BRONZE 'QILIN' MIRROR STAND
CHINA, MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

Brought to you by

Fiona Braslau

fbraslau@christies.com 01 40 76 84 22

Lot Essay

See a similar qilin-shaped mirror stand illustrated in Michel Maucuer, Bronzes de la Chine Impériale des Song aux Qing, Paris, 2013, p. 113. Compare to a bronze mirror of this type, dated Hongwu period, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,, illustrated in the Catalogue of Special Exhibition of Bronze Mirrors in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, p. 248.

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