An excellent 'lion and grapevine' bronze mirror, China, Tang dynasty (618-907). Photo Nagel

the heavy, excellently and crisply cast mirror is decorated in high relief with six lion-like animals and two peacocks among grapevine in the centre around a crouching “lion” as knob, enclosed by a band with many different birds and martenlike animals between grapevine. On the raised, flat border rim a narrow band with small, stylized cloud motifs in thread relief; grey, partly shiny bronze with sparse corrosion and earth encrustations, the dark grey, shiny specular side on larger parts with heavy greyish-green corrosion, otherwise very fine condition, weight: 974 g. 

Property from an important private collection of Chinese art

Compare: - Shanghai Museum (ed.), Ancient bronze mirrors from the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2005, No. 86, also with two peacocks but only four animals in the centre and on the outer frieze only with birds among the grapevine, diam. 20 cm, dated to Tang
dynasty

- H. Brinker, Bronzen aus dem alten China, Zürich 1975, no. 98, a smaller mirror also with two peacocks but only four animals in the centre and more similar décor on the frieze, dated to early Tang dynasty.

Nagel. "Asian Art". 2012/11/02 http://www.auction.de/