AN OCTAFOIL BRONZE MIRROR, TANG DYNASTY

AN OCTAFOIL BRONZE MIRROR, TANG DYNASTY
China, 618-907. Crisply cast in linghua shape (water chestnut flower), the pierced knob surrounded by four animals shown in lively positions as they frolic atop a flowering scroll, all within the raised inner edge of the outer band of eight barbed lobes with alternating butterflies and foliate sprays.

Provenance: Purchased by the current vendors late father in the 1960's from the George Family. By repute it was collected by the British officer Robin George during the Boxer rebellion, and thence by descent through his family.
Condition: Natural, lustrous grey patina with malachite encrustations. Minor losses to rim.

Weight: 512.1 grams
Dimensions: Diameter 17.2 cm

The four animals on this mirror are particularly expressive as they leap amidst the stems of the flower scroll. They are also unusual in the depiction of the tufts of hair detailing their legs, heads, bodies, and long tails.

Literature comparison: The unusual positions of some of the animals are similar to those seen in animals chased on the silver back of a bronze mirror (linghua type) of Tang date, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Tang Mirrors, Sen-Oku Hakuko Kan, Kyoto, 2006, p. 43, no. 55.

Auction result comparison: Compare with a closely related mirror sold by Christies New York, 22nd March 2012, in Luminous Perfection: Fine Chinese Mirrors from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, lot 1459.

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