Important Chinese Art

Important Chinese Art

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 119. A brightly patinated bronze mirror, Han dynasty | 漢 銅鏡.

Property formerly in the collection of Dr. David Ho (1911-1986)

A brightly patinated bronze mirror, Han dynasty | 漢 銅鏡

Auction Closed

November 3, 05:23 PM GMT

Estimate

3,000 - 5,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property formerly in the collection of Dr. David Ho (1911-1986)

A brightly patinated bronze mirror

Han dynasty

漢 銅鏡


the hemispherical knop set within a band of twelve small discs alternately linked by single and triple lines to a band of stylised characters, encircled by a blade and spiral band in thread relief surrounded by a second longer inscription band, the raised rim undecorated, the patination of vivid azurite blue and malachite green 

Diameter 17.8 cm, 7 in.

Dr. David Ho (Chinese name Ho Hangchi 何昌熾) was born in Kanton in 1911. His father was a well-known dentist in Nanjing who counted Chiang Kai-shek among his patients. David Ho pursued an illustrious career in International Law. He first studied political sciences at the University of Shanghai (1930-1932) followed by comparative and international law studies at Suzhou University. After moving to France, in 1941 he obtained a PhD in law from the University of Paris. In 1962 he joined the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in London. From 1949 until his retirement in 1971, David Ho worked as a legal officer at the United Nations Secretariat in New York. He relocated to Geneva in 1971 where he and his wife lived until his death in 1986. 


Interested in Chinese history and art, David Ho was particularly fascinated by objects that were inscribed. His extensive archive and research suggest that it was during his time in New York that he began collecting and researching Chinese artefacts.

Compare with a smaller bronze mirror lacking the outer band of Chinese characters, illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese Bronze Mirrors in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, pl. 23.