Page 160 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art 09/13/17

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136 A BELL-SHAPED BRONZE MIRROR
158 SOTHEBY’S SONG DYNASTY

cast with a rectangular aperture at the top and a loose-ring
handle suspended from the front, the front with two columns
of seal script text cast in relief reading gu zhong yu gong, sheng
wen yu wai (the drum and bell are in the palace, their sound
can be heard outside), centered with a square seal reading Li
Daobing zao (made by Li Daobing), the front and ring handle
cast with irregular depressions to imitate the corrosion on
ancient bronzes, the back polished to high gloss, mottled
turquoise- and gray-green patina throughout, acrylic stand (2)
Length 6½ in., 16.5 cm

PROVENANCE

Sotheby’s London, 7th December 1993, lot 27.
Dutch Private Collection.

A related, but slightly smaller, mirror from the collection of
Ulrich Hausmann sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October
2014, lot 3388. Another of the same type in the collection
of the Lee Kong Chian Art Museum, Singapore, is illustrated
in Lee Kong Chian Art Museum Catalog: National University
of Singapore, Singapore, 1990, cat. no. 385. A similar Song
dynasty mirror in the Musée Cernuschi is illustrated by Michel
Maucuer, Bronzes de la Chine impériale, des Song aux Qin,
Paris, 2013, cat. no. 115.

$ 8,000-12,000

1993 12 7 27

136

A BRONZE ZUN-FORM BEAKER VASE
MING DYNASTY

of archaistic form, the bulging midsection and tall splayed
foot divided by protruding notched anges, each section cast
with archaistic taotie and kuilong against a leiwen ground, the

aring neck cast with upright cicada blades
Height 10¾ in., 27.2 cm

PROVENANCE
Acquired in China circa 1947, and thence by descent.

$ 5,000-7,000

1947