Lot 1124. A silvery bronze 'TLV' circular mirror, Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 8). Price Realised  USD 60,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2011.

Crisply cast, the central knob within a square border of twelve small nipples separating characters representing the zodiac, with eight further nipples in the outer field arranged within the T, L and V motifs and various animals and birds, as well as a Daoist immortal, within a narrow hatchured border, all below bands of dogtooth and cloud scroll on the rim, with silvery patina and some malachite encrustation; 6½ in. (16.5 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box. 

Provenance: Acquired in Tokyo in the 1970s. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part I & II, 15 September 2011, New York, Rockefeller Plaza