Lot 209. A bronze octalobed 'Flower and Fruit' mirror, Tang Dynasty (618-907). Width 7 in., 17.7 cm. Estimate 15,000 — 25,000 USD. Lot sold 15,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's

the central knob surrounded by two fruiting sprays, each with a mass of berries growing on one branch, divided by a flowering spray with similar leaves, all within a raised rim, the silvery-gray patina with green and brown encrustation. 

Provenance: Old Japanese collection, circa 1980, by repute.

Note: A bronze mirror with almost identical decoration but with a darker patina is illustrated in Catalogue of Special Exhibition of Bronze Mirrors in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, p. 190, pl. 98. Another mirror with similar design but of circular form was sold in our London rooms, 13th December 1988, lot 9.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 18 march 2014