Lot 360. Miroir en bronze, Chine, dynastie Tang (618-907 Av.JC.). Estimate €6,000 - €8,000 ($6,806 - $9,075). Price Realized €7,500 ($8,463). Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The lobed mirror is finely cast in relief with two figures flanking the central boss, with Confucius holding a staff on the left and the hermit Rong Qiqi possibly holding a sword and clad in a deerskin on the right, with an inscription, Rong Qiqi wenyueda Kongfuzi in a panel above and a willow tree below. 5 1/8 in. (13 cm.) diam.

A bronze lobed 'Three delights' mirror, China, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907)

Provenance: Collection of the late Laurent Kadé (1933-1990), France, and thence by descent to the present owner.

Note: The inscription identifies the two figures and may be translated, 'Rong Qiqi was questioned by, and replied to Confucius.' For a similar lobed mirror and a discussion of this type of mirror see Ju-hsi Chou, Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000, p. 77, no. 71, where the author notes that this type of mirror is often called the "Three Delights," a reference to a declaration made by Rong Qiqi. The author also notes that there is a similar mirror in the National Palace Museum, as well as excavated examples. A circular mirror of this design is illustrated in Bronze Mirrors in the Shanghai Museum Collection, Shanghai, 1987, no. 92.

Christie's. ART D'ASIE, 21 - 22 June 2016, Paris