Page 58 - J.J. Lally Chinese Art CHRISTIE'S March 23 2023 NYC

818 A BRONZE OCTAFOIL MIRROR 宋ǭ銅一葦渡江圖菱ऑ鏡
SONG DYNASTY (AD 960-1279)
The mirror is cast with a central knob and a scene of Bodhidharma Ϝ源
藍理捷
紐約
編號
standing on a reed while navigating wind-blown waves and holding
his hat, opposite a temple which emerges from a water spout that
rises from a dragon’s mouth, all enclosed by the barbed and lobed
edge. The reverse is plain and the silvery-grey surface has areas of
malachite and azurite patination.
6 in. (15.2 cm.) diam., composite stand
$4,000-6,000

PROVENANCE:
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 2508.
Bodhidharma is a Buddhist figure whose teachings eventually
became the foundation of Chan (Zen) Buddhism. He is often
depicted standing on a reed leaf, representing the episode where
he crossed the Yangtze river to evade pursuers.

A very similar lobed bronze mirror decorated with the same
scene is in the Shanghai Museum and illustrated in Ancient
Bronze Mirrors from the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2005, p. 347,
no. 134, with a rubbing on p. 346.

819 A SILVERY-BRONZE SQUARE MIRROR 宋 金ǭ十Հ 十Ӳ世紀ǭ銅「❥ײ明如鏡」方鏡
SONG-JIN DYNASTY, 12TH–13TH CENTURY
One side is cast with a scholar playing the flute opposite a seated Ϝ源
tiger holding a wine cup, with a gourd-shaped wine jar between 藍理捷
紐約
編號
them, all below a five-character inscription reading jie shi ming ru
jing (the regional military governor is honorable and incorruptible).
The reverse is plain and the silvery surface has areas of green
encrustation. There are a few indecipherable characters later-carved
on the left side of the flat border.
4º in. (10.8 cm.) square, cloth box
$7,000-9,000

PROVENANCE:
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, no. 3289.
For other bronze mirrors with similar carved inscriptions,
see Sha Yuanzhang, “Discussion on the Ancient Chinese
Registration System and the Nüzhen Tribe Meng’an mouke
System,” in the Chinese periodical Chinese Bronze Mirrors, 2015,
No. 6, pp. 24-33.

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