LARGE MIRROR Lot n° 545

LARGE MIRROR Bronze China, possibly Five Dynasties (907 - 960) to Song dynasty (960 - 1279) This mirror in the Western Han style is very emblematic in its design and attested to by an excavation find documented in the publication of the Han Yanglin Museum in vol. 223. The decorative relief depiction is almost the same, with the difference that this mirror has a central, half-spherical eyelet knob with a rose of leaves around it. The eyelet is very large. Around the rose of leaves is a quadratic frame, followed by stylized characters related to the sky, earth, sun and moon, and then another large quadratic frame surrounded by stylized decorative leaves. The outer frame is gestur-ally powerful with its cloud langet. Bronze dark brown in color; some age-related pat-ina, around the edge on the mirror side. An almost identical comparative example can be found in book Han Yangling Museum, Beijing 2004, page 125, no. 223, "A bronze mirror with leaf design unearthed from the accompanying burial ground", diameter 11,5 cm. Dimensions: DIAMETER 11.5 CM, DIAMETER 17.2 CM, THICKNESS (Edge) 3 to 4.5 CM Condition: Very well preserved Provenance: Collection of Herbert Keuper, Germany