A silvery bronze circular mirror with inscription. Western Han dynasty  (206 BC-AD 8). Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The central knob set within crisply cast concentric circles that include a band of nine nipples alternating with feather-like motifs, three hatchured bands, an inscription, and a band of eight nipples separating thread-relief motifs, all below a double sawtooth band on the rim; 7 3/8 in. (19 cm.) diam., ¼ in. (.5 cm.) thick, box - 1051.8g. Estimate $25,000 - $35,000

西漢 多乳獸鳥紋銘文鍍銀銅鏡

Provenance: Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, New York, acquired in Hong Kong, 1990

Notes: A rubbing of a similar mirror discovered in a tomb in 1972 is illustrated in "A Report on the Excavation of Han Dynasty Tombs in Qianyang county, Shaanxi province," Kaogu 1975:3, p. 179, fig. 2 (no. 1). See, also, another of similar type, minus the inscription, illustrated in Ancient Bronze Mirrors in the National Museum of History, Taipei, 1996, pp. 96-7. 

Christie's. Luminous Perfection: Fine Chinese Mirrors from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, 22 March 2012, New York, Rockefeller Plaza