A RARE TURQUOISE-INLAID BRONZE MIRROR, WARRING STATES PERIOD
China, 475-221 BC. Finely cast, the back of the circular mirror intricately inlaid in turquoise with intertwined stylized dragons arranged in a grid-like structure interspersed by circular recesses and encircled by a band of similarly stylized beasts. The mirror is cast with three loops suspending loose and massive bronze rings.


Provenance:
A private collection in Northern Thailand. Het Magazijn, Ghent, Belgium, September 2006. The private collection of Mr. and Mrs. S., Ghent, Belgium, acquired from the above and thence by descent in the family. A copy of a signed authentication certificate from Het Magazijn, including two photographs of the present lot, and confirming the provenance and dating above, accompanies this lot.

Condition:
Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, losses, nicks, scratches. The bronze is covered in a rich, naturally grown patina with fine malachite encrustation. Displaying spectacularly well overall.

Weight: 1,926 g
Dimensions: Diameter 29.9 cm


Expert’s note:
Unlike most mirrors of Warring States and Tang Dynasty date, which have a central loop or knob for the attachment of a cord, this mirror - and others like it - have loops at the outer edge, which are thought to have been used for suspending it. Fragments of stone left within one of the eight circular recesses suggest this mirror was once additionally inlaid with precious stones which are now lost. This suggests a high degree of importance surrounding this mirror as all other comparisons have simple bronze knobs cast as one piece rather than gemstone inlays.


Literature comparison:

Compare a closely related turquoise-inlaid mirror, also with three rings, excavated at Linzi (a city of the Qi state), Shandong province, dated to the Warring States period, in the Shandong Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji (‘Complete Collection of Chinese Bronzes’) - 16 - Bronze Mirrors, Beijing, 1998, p. 32, no. 32; and by Thomas Lawton, Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480-222 BC, Freer Gallery of Art, 1982, p. 81, where it is noted that other mirrors with suspension loops at the rim were excavated from a tomb at Shiertai, Chaoyang county, Liaoning province. A turquoise-inlaid bronze mirror found in 1965 in a Western Han tomb at the Sanlidun site in Lianshui county, Jiangsu province, was unearthed with a bronze figure of a recumbent deer, suggesting that the mirror might have been suspended by two of the rings from the antlers. For illustrations of the deer and mirror see Ancient Bronze Mirrors from the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2005, p. 59, fig. 13.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 4 Oct 2018, lot 73
Price: HKD 175,000 or approx.
EUR 24,500
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare small turquoise-inlaid silvery bronze circular mirror with rings, Warring States period (475-221)
Expert remark: Compare the identical form with three loose rings and similar decoration with similar turquoise inlays.
Note the much smaller size (9 cm).





戰國嵌綠松石銅鏡

中國，公元前475-221年。圓形鏡子，背面鑲嵌綠松石，花紋對稱，成蜿蜒龍紋狀，十分精美，邊緣一周獸形紋。三個銅活環。


來源：
泰國北部私人收藏；比利時根特Het Magazijn，2006 年 9 月；比利時根特 S. 夫人和先生私人收藏，是從上述家族獲得。該拍品隨附一份 Het Magazijn 簽署的鑑定證書副本，其中包括本拍品的兩張照片，並確認上述出處和日期。

品相：
狀況良好，大面積磨損、風化和侵蝕、缺損、刻痕、劃痕。青銅表面覆蓋著自然包漿，上面散佈著著精美的綠色外殼。

重量：1,926 克
尺寸：直徑 29.9 厘米


文獻比較:

比較一件非常相近的戰國時期嵌綠松石銅鏡，也有三環，出土於山東省臨淄（舊齊國城市），收藏於山東博物館，見《中國青銅器全集・16・銅鏡》，北京，1998年，頁32，編號32。另一件西元前480-222年銅鏡，見Thomas Lawton，《Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity》，Freer Gallery of Art，1982年，頁81。值得注意的是，遼寧省朝陽縣十二台墓葬中還出土了其他邊緣帶有吊環的鏡子。 1965年，江蘇省漣水縣三里屯遺址西漢墓葬中出土了一面鑲嵌綠松石的銅鏡，鏡上有一銅鹿臥身像，表明的兩枚圓環為鹿角而製。一件鹿和銅鏡，見《Ancient Bronze Mirrors from the Shanghai Museum》，上海，2005年，頁59，圖13。


拍賣比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：香港佳士得，2018年10月4日，lot 73
價錢：HKD 175,000（相當今日EUR 24,500）
描述：戰國鑲嵌綠松石三活環鍍銀銅鏡
專家註釋：比較相同的外形帶有三個環和類似的裝飾，帶有類似的綠松石鑲嵌物。
請注意尺寸較小 (9 厘米)。