A bronze circular mirror with coiled dragon. Tang dynasty (618-907). Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012

Crisply cast in relief with a single three-clawed, scaly dragon striding amidst four vaporous clouds as it turns its head around to bite the knob which represents the 'flaming pearl', with silvery grey patina; 5 7/8 in. (15 cm.) diam., 3/16 in. (.4 cm.) thick, box - 615.8g. Estimate $20,000 - $30,000

唐 雲龍紋銅鏡

Provenance: Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, New York, acquired in Hong Kong, 1993.

Notes: The type of dragon seen on this mirror, with its distinctive features including the elongated, horned head, long neck, legs set wide apart, and tail wrapped around the left back leg, appears to be unique to the Tang dynasty. It can be seen on mirrors which began to appear around the mid-eighth century. A circular mirror with very similar decoration, of smaller size (10.2 cm.), where the decoration also fills the entire back rather than being set within a circular border, is illustrated by Ju-hsi Chou in Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000, p. 78, no. 72. Most of the published mirrors with similar decoration are octalobed rather than circular, and include one of comparable size (15.6 cm.) illustrated in Ancient Bronze Mirrors from the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2005, pp. 256-7, no. 90, where it is mentioned that similar mirrors have been excavated from Tang dynasty tombs at Xi'an, Shaanxi province and Shaoxing, Zhejiang province; and another in the collection of the Shaanxi History Museum is illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 16 - Bronze Mirrors, Beijing, 1998, p. 170, no. 167. See, also, the octalobed example sold in these rooms 15-16 September 2011, lot 1133