OCTAFOIL-SHAPED MIRROR FEATURING THE DRAGON SLAYER CI FEI. BRONZE.
China. Song dynasty (960-1279).

Bronze with green patina. Ci Fei the dragon slayer of the Han dynasty riding on a ship with a tall mast trough high waves. An inscription above: Huang Pi Chang Tian (clear wide luminous sky). The back partly still shiny and mirroring. ?6;7cm. Condition A/B.

Provenance:
-From the property of Erich Boltze and Ruth baronesse von Gersdorff.
-Before 1948 acquired locally.

Exhibition:
-KOREA REDISCOVERED! Treasures from German Museums; Museum f黵 angewandte Kunst Frankfurt; 2011-13. Compare cat. no 84-86; p. 344-346.

Literature:
-Christie's New York; Sale 2658; Luminous Perfection: Fine Chinese Mirrors from the Robert
H. Ellsworth Collection. Compare Lot 1470.

This type of mirrors are found in Northern Chinese and Korean graves. That sometimes one of the four characteres is mirrored might be a sign; that this mirror was produced in Korea; rather than in China.
Art trade; Van Ham.