A rare gold-sheet-inlaid bronze foliate mirror, Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Lot 57. A rare gold-sheet-inlaid bronze foliate mirror, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 5.7cm (2 1/4in) wide. Estimate £ 3,000 - 5,000 (€ 3,400 - 5,700). Unsold. © Bonhams 2001-2018
The six-petalled mirror inlaid with a sheet of gold chased with three horses galloping head to tail in low relief against a ground of incised leafy scrolls issuing from the central domed knob, contrasting with the silvery finish on the wide rim and reverse reflective surface, box. (2)
Provenance: The Mengdiexuan Collection.
Published: J.M.White and E.Bunker, Adornment for Eternity: Status and Rank in Chinese Ornament, Denver, 1994, p.140, no.55f.
Note: Mirrors had been made using bronze since the Shang dynasty (16th-11th century BC) but during the Tang dynasty, the most rare and prized mirrors were inset with either an elaborately decorated cut sheet of gold or silver.
A related gold-sheet inlaid bronze mirror, Tang dynasty, similarly decorated with animals but of octafoil form, was sold at Christie's New York, 17-18 March 2016, lot 1402.
From the Collection of Robert H. Ellsworth. A miniature gold sheet-inlaid bronze octafoil mirror, China, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907); 2 3/8 in. (6 cm.) wide. Sold for 43,750$ at Christie's New York, 17-18 March 2016, lot 1402. © Christie's Image Ltd 2015
Cf. my post: A miniature gold sheet-inlaid bronze octafoil mirror, China, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907)
Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 17 May 2018, 10:30 BST, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET