Lot 92. Property from the Simone and Alan Hartman Collection. A finely cast 'Immortals' bronze mirror, Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220); 18cm diam. Sold for US$5,376 (Estimate US$ 2,500-4,500) © Bonhams 2001-2024

Decorated in high relief of four mythical figures each riding a dragon, interspersed with eight small 'reverse' bosses, encircled by alternating square and half-circle tabs over raised 'pearl' ground, the border delicately modeled with mythical creatures over mountains and waves converging to the palace at one end, the metal with smooth black patina overall, the gently convex mirror side with malachite encrustations near the edge.

Note: The inscription starting with wu zuo ming jing (吾作明鏡 I made this bright mirror) is cast in four-character verses on the 13 square blocks encircling the figures. A very similar bronze mirror in the collection of the Shanghai Museum is illustrated in World in Mirror: Selected Bronze Mirrors from Lloyd Cotsen's Donation, Shanghai, 2012, pp. 80-81, no. 31, where the author noted another similar mirror in the collection of the Shanghai Museum dated by inscription to the first year of Yongkang in the Eastern Han dynasty, corresponding to A.D. 167.

Lot 93. A bronze 'Nebulae' mirror, Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220); 11.1cm diam. Sold for US$2,560 (Estimate US$ 3,000-5,000) © Bonhams 2001-2024

Deeply cast with in-turning lobes, a band of 'clouds and constellations' within line borders encircling another ring of in-turning lobes, the tall central knob with nine stars, the metal smoothly polished with few encrustations in areas.

Provenance: Purchased from Eldred's Auction, Massachusetts, around 1969

Note: Compare the larger bronze mirror of this design in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum, illustrated on the museum's website, accession number 1992.82. Compare also the similar bronze mirror in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, illustrated on the museum's website, accession number 1995.288.

Lot 94. Two cast bronze mirrors, Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) and possibly Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) imitating Tang style; 11.1cm and 6.8cm diam. Sold for US$1,664 (Estimate US$ 2,000-3,000) © Bonhams 2001-2024

The larger mirror finely cast with four mythical beasts separated by four 'nipples' with the raised flat border with zig-zag patterns, all surrounding a domed central knob, the silvered bronze finely polished revealing the black metal in areas, with few patches of encrustations; the smaller mirror deeply cast with 'lion and grapevine' design, the four lions and four birds over a thick grapevine, the central knob in the form of another lion, all surrounded by a band of stylized petals at the rim, the straight exterior and the mirror side smoothly polished revealing the brassy metal body.

Provenance: Kitty Higgins, Trocadéro Gallery, possibly 1970s (Han mirror)
Oriental Decor, Boston, December 1968 (lion-and-grapevine mirror)

Note: It is understandable that later dynasties wanted to copy the most iconic Tang designs, in this case the 'lion and grapevine' mirror. The present example, with the high copper content and the unusual posture of the central lion, may be the product of this trend. Compare the 'lion and grapevine' mirror, also finely cast like the present lot, illustrated by Sha Yuanzhang, Liao Jin Bronze Mirror, Harbin, 2007, p. 214, described as Jin dynasty imitating Tang style.

Lot 98. Property from the Simone and Alan Hartman Collection. A rare bronze 'zodiac' mirror, Sui Dynasty (581-618); 21.5cm diam. Sold for US$3,584 (Estimate US$ 4,000-6,000) © Bonhams 2001-2024

Finely cast with a circular panel of twelve zodiac animals enclosing a band of 'animal of four directions' amidst mountain peaks, the rounded central knob encircled by a two-verse, eight-character poem, all within the radiating triangular border and thick angled rim, the silvered bronze with malachite and cuprite encrustations.

Note: The inscription encircled the central knob may be read as: 光正隨人，宜新長命 and may be translated as "illuminating uprightness pleasing people, long life for renewal".

Compare the bronze 'zodiac' mirror of smaller size with the same set of inscription in the collection of the Palace Museum in Taipei, illustrated in Reflections of the Emperor: The Collection and Culture of Mirrors at the Qing Court, Taipei, 2015, pp. 70-71, no. I-24, citing two bronze mirrors of this type unearthed from Sui dynasty tombs.

Lot 96. A rare 'Immortal' mounting celestial beasts' bronze mirror, Tang Dynasty (618–907); 11.7cm diam. Sold for US$5,120 (Estimate US$ 2,000-4,000) © Bonhams 2001-2024

Finely cast with four immortals riding celestial beasts encircling the central knob, the barbed rim decorated with alternating butterflies and flowing branches, the mirror side smoothly polished, the surface with cuprite and malachite encrustations.

Compare the very similar bronze mirror illustrated in Cream of Cultural Relics in Xi'an: Bronze Mirror, Xi'an, 2008, p. 122, no. 109, transferred by Xi'an Culture Relics shop in 1987. Compare also the bronze mirror of this subject and form but of larger size, from the Hoyt Collection and illustrated by Hsien-Ch'i Tseng and Robert Paul Dart, The Charles B. Hoyt Collection in the Museum of Fine Arts: Boston, Volume I, Boston, 1964, no. 128.

Lot 97. Property from the Simone and Alan Hartman Collection. A eight-lobed bronze 'dragon' mirror, Tang Dynasty (618–907); 15.6cm diam. (fitted wood box). Sold for US$4,864 (Estimate US$ 2,000-3,000) © Bonhams 2001-2024

Cast in relief the horned dragon with three-claw feet and long tail flying amidst scrolling clouds, looking back at the domed center knob as if chasing the 'flaming pearl', the ground slightly inset from the rim, the silvered bronze with malachite and cuprite encrustations in areas.

Note: Compare the closely related 'dragon' mirror of larger size, unearthed from the Tang dynasty cemetery at Yanshi, Henan province, illustrated in the excavation report, The Tang Tombs in Yanshi Xingyuan, Beijing, 2001, col. pl. 10-4, with description on p. 139, line drawing and rubbing on pp. 140-141, pls. 130-5 and 131.

Lot 99. Property from the Simone and Alan Hartman Collection. A rare lacquered bronze' mirror, Tang Dynasty (618–907); 21.3cm diam. Sold for US$21,760 (Estimate US$ 4,000-6,000) © Bonhams 2001-2024

Finely decorated with gold and silver foil cutouts with incised details, the three flowering plants alternating with three pairs of phoenixes in flight interspersed with florets over a lacquer ground, the faceted rim slightly raised, the silvered bronze with malachite encrustation in areas.

Provenance: J.T. Tai & Co., 1974
Christie's, New York, 14 September 2009, lot 34 (part lot).

Note: In the Tang dynasty, the ancient art of mirror production flourished with the introduction of new designs and techniques. One novel technique that developed in the 8th century involved coating the back of the bronze mirror with lacquer and embellishing the colored surface with motifs inlaid in gold, silver, or mother-of-pearl. The present mirror is an elegant example of this type, ornamented with gold birds soaring amongst wispy plants applied in silver and gold against a dark lacquer ground.

Compare two circular mirrors of this type, also lacquered and inlaid with birds and flora in gold and silver foil, unearthed from the Tang dynasty cemetery at Yanshi, Henan province, illustrated in The Tang Tombs in Yanshi Xingyuan, Beijing, 2001, col. pl. 9, nos. 1-3.

Several examples of Tang dynasty dark-lacquered mirrors inlaid with 'bird and flower' motifs are currently preserved in museum collections or temples, including one with a foliate rim in the Cleveland Museum of Art (acc. no. 1973.75); a square version from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, now in collection of Asia Society, New York (acc. no. 1979.119); and a floriform mirror in the Shōsō-in repository of the Tōdai-ji Temple, Nara, published in Compendium of Chinese Art Classifications: The Complete Collection of Chinese Bronzes, Vol. 16: Mirrors, Beijing, 1998, no. 110. For contemporaneous examples with other designs, see one with birds, beasts, and floral scroll in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 22.157.12); and one with phoenix inlaid in mother-of-pearl, now in the British Museum, London (coll. no. 1933,1027.1).

Bonhams. Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 16 September 2024