Page 105 - Blum Feinstein Tanka collection HIMALAYAN Art Bonhams March 20 2024
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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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