A RARE LARGE SILVERY BRONZE OCTALOBED MIRROR

TANG DYNASTY (618-907)

Details

A RARE LARGE SILVERY BRONZE OCTALOBED MIRROR
TANG DYNASTY (618-907)
Of kuihua (sunflower) shape, the knob forming the center of an eight-petaled flower flanked by a pair of standing phoenixes with knotted, tasseled cords trailing upward from their beaks, with a xiniu leaping amidst clouds above the knob and a qilin leaping amidst clouds below, all within a raised border, with a small leafy sprig in each of the eight lobes of the rim
10 5/8 in. (27 cm.) diam., ¼ in. (.5 cm.) thick, box
1833.7g

Provenance

A.W. Bahr (1877-1959).
Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, New York, acquired from Edna Bahr, Connecticut, late 1960s.

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Lot Essay

Compare the very similar mirror of comparable large size (27.6 cm.) illustrated by Ju-hsi Chou, Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000, pp. 72-3, no. 65. Both this mirror and the present mirror would have been presented as wedding gifts. Fenghuang (phoenix) is a combination of characters for the male and female animal, and so the two phoenixes would represent a couple. A pair of phoenixes also symbolizes happiness in marriage, and the silk cords grasped in their beaks represent longevity. Both the xiniu and the qilin are mythical creatures. In the context of this design the xiniu may symbolize true love between the couple. Like fenghuang, qilin is a combination of the characters for the male and female animal, so here the qilin may represent the couple, and the wish for a son or sons, as the qilin is supposed to appear just before the birth of a great sage.

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