AN UNUSUAL BRONZE CIRCULAR MIRROR WITH DEITIES, BEASTS AND INSCRIPTION

SUI DYNASTY (581-618)

Details

AN UNUSUAL BRONZE CIRCULAR MIRROR WITH DEITIES, BEASTS AND INSCRIPTION
SUI DYNASTY (581-618)
The knob encircled by a narrow 'egg and dart' border, and an octagonal band enclosing scroll-flanked characters which overlays the spokes of the eight radiating panels enclosing two seated deities, two bixie and the animals of the Four Directions, the Blue Dragon, Red Bird, White Tiger and the Dark Warrior, within an outer band of semi-circles, foliate motifs and two squares enclosing characters, all below an inscription, a band of the animals of the zodiac and other animals, and a band of flat-cast scroll decoration on the rim, with grey patina and some malachite and ferrous encrustation
9 3/8 in. (24 cm.) diam., 5/16 in. (.8 cm.) thick, box
2013.1g

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

A very similar mirror excavated in 1978 at Yongshou, Shaanxi province, and now at the Shaanxi History Museum, is illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 16 - Bronze Mirrors, Beijing, 1998, p. 105, no. 103. Another from the Winthrop Collection is illustrated in Sen-Oku Sei-Sho (The Collection of Old Bronzes of Baron Sumitomo), Kyoto, 1934, plate opposite p. 164 (fig. 6).

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