Beschreibung:

A rare inscribed 'four cardinal directions' silvered bronze mirrorSui / Tang dynasty 隋 / 唐 銅鎏銀瑞獸紋鏡 cast with a thirty-two character inscription reading xianshan bingzhao zhishui qiming huachao yanlai yueye liuming longpan wurui luanwu shuangqing chuanwen renshou shiyan xiaobing (The immortal peaks rise as twins, the wise river now has a rival. Morning flowers are made bright and charming, at night, its light reflects the moon. The dragon coils around the jade disc; a pair of fabulous birds dance in harmony. It is said the Renshou era was when the war began to end)銘文：仙山並照 智水齊名 花朝艷來 月夜流明龍盤五瑞 鸞舞雙清 傳聞仁壽 始驗銷兵 Diameter 7⅞ in., 20.2 cmCondition reportFor more information on and additional videos for this lot, please contact asiaweek@sothebys.com.ProvenanceCollection of A.W. Bahr (1877-1959).Collection of Miss Edna Helen Bahr, until 1956.Sotheby's London, 17th July 1956, lot 90.Collection of Dr Wou Kiuan (1910-1997).Wou Lien-Pai Museum, 1968-present, coll. no. T.5.23. 巴爾（1877-1959）收藏Edna Helen 巴爾女士收藏，至1956年倫敦蘇富比1956年7月17日，編號90吳權博士 (1910-1997) 收藏吳蓮伯博物院，1968年至今，編號T.5.23Catalogue noteInheriting much of the design of 'TVL' mirrors from the earlier Han dynasty, the design of the present mirror illustrates the animals of the four cardinal directions: the green dragon of the east, the vermilion bird of the south, the white tiger of the west and the entwined tortoise and snake of the north. Mirrors of the same design and bearing the same 32-character inscription include one illustrated in The Palace Museum's Collection of Bronze Mirrors, Beijing, 2008, pl. 31; another illustrated in Catalogue of Special Exhibition of Bronze Mirrors in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, pl. 70; a third in the Denver Art Museum, illustrated in Schuyler Cammann, 'Chinese Bronze Mirrors', Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, vol. 9, 1955, p. 60, fig. 7; and a fourth included in the exhibition Circles of Reflection. The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 2000, cat. no. 49.