A RARE LARGE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID LACQUERED BRONZE MIRROR

TANG DYNASTY (618-907)

Details

A RARE LARGE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID LACQUERED BRONZE MIRROR
TANG DYNASTY (618-907)
Of circular form, the back covered in black lacquer inlaid with three large silver flower sprays alternating with gold birds in flight above gold lotus motifs and silver leaves, all interspersed with further leaves, butterflies and foliate motifs; together with two small silver-backed octalobed bronze mirrors, Tang dynasty, both silver-sheet backs executed in repoussé on a fine ring-punched ground, one with lions and birds amidst leafy scrolling vines, the other with three birds in flight between foliate stems; all with some malachite green encrustation
8 3/8 and 2 7/16 in. (21.3 and 6.2 cm.) across, box (3)

Provenance

All: J.T. Tai & Co., New York; first 1974, second and third 1966.

Exhibited

Second: Art of the T'ang Dynasty and its Antecedents, Low Memorial Library, Columbia University, New York March, 1967, no. 31.

Further details

See illustration of first

Sale room notice

Please note that the two smaller mirrors are octolobe and not quatrelobe.

Brought to you by

Krystelle Sun

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

ksun@christies.com 212-636-2173

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

Mirrors of this type, with their rich combination of gold and silver decoration on a lacquer ground set into the back of the bronze mirror, reflect the splendor and sumptuous taste of the Tang court. Mirrors similar to the present example found their way to Japan at an early date, such as the eight-lobed mirror in the Shoso-in, illustrated by Ryochi Hayashi, The Silk Road and the Shoso-in, New York/Tokyo, 1975, p. 129, fig. 142. Another similarly decorated eight-lobed mirror is illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji (The Great Treasury of Chinese Fine Arts), vol. 8, Arts and Crafts - Lacquerware, Beijing, 1989, p. 80, no. 78.

More from Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art Including Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections

View All