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PROPERTY FROM THE ALAN AND SIMONE HARTMAN PROPERTY FROM THE ALAN AND SIMONE HARTMAN
COLLECTION COLLECTION
335 336
TWO INSCRIBED BRONZE MIRRORS TWO BRONZE FOLIATE-EDGED PHOENIX-DECORATED
Eastern Han Dynasty MIRRORS
The first a canted edge setting off a multiple concentric bands of Tang Dynasty
sawthooth, hachured and cloud scroll decoration framing a long The first with an outer section cast with insects and plants framing
inscription under a procession of court figures behind a chariot and an inner field of paired phoenix flanking two birds in flight carrying a
immortals in clouds accented by raised 'nipple' bosses under further baoxiang flower and a single below; the second with outer section of
bands of stiff leaves and 'nipples' enclosing a raised knop finial; the flowerheads under a pair phoenix biting tied sashes flanked by a single
second cast with multiple sawtooth, bands under a further band bird in flight and another resting on a lotus flower head, both enclosed
enclosing an inscription framing a raised band of stylized birds and in an eight-sided petaled border and centered on a plain knop finial. (2)
'Animals of the Four Directions' separated by 'T' and 'L' brackets 8 3/8in (22.8mm) and 7 7/8in (20cm) diam
under a square border with cyclical characters and 'nipple' bosses
enclosing a knop finial. (2) $2,000 - 3,000
7 1/2in (19.1cm); 7in (17.8cm) diam
唐 雙鸞葵花鏡兩面
$2,000 - 3,000
Compare two mirrors of this design, one in the National Museum in
東漢 東王父西王母畫像銅鏡 博局乳釘四象紋鏡 共兩面 Beijing, the other unearthed in 1956 at Jiangchengbao, Baoji, Shaanxi
province, illustrated in Compendium of Chinese Bronzes, Vol. 16,
The 41-character inscription on the 'immortal' mirror includes "壽如東王 Mirror, Dongguan, 1998, pp. 145-146, nos. 142 and 143.
父西王母..." which mentions the King Father of the East and the Queen
Mother of the West, both important icons of Han dynasty beliefs.
Compare the bronze mirror with closely related design, unearthed
at Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, now in the Shaoxing City Museum,
illustrated in Compendium of Chinese Bronze, Vol. 16, Mirror,
Dongguan, 1998, p. 86, no. 85, described as Eastern Han.
The 20-character inscription on the 'TLV' mirror encircles the twelve
dizhi alternating sharp 'nipples' enclosed within the square border: 子
丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥.
A very similar 'TLV' mirror cast with the 'Animal of Four Directions' and
a band of inscription, unearthed in 1954 at Niuweigang, Shou county,
Anhui province, now in the collection of the Anhui Provincial Museum,
is illustrated in the same volume, op. cit., p. 71, no. 70, described as
Eastern Han.

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