Lot 1417. A bronze circular 'Dragon' mirror, Mid Western Han dynasty, 2nd century BC. Estimate USD 7,000 - USD 9,000. Price realised USD 5,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012.

Thinly and crisply cast in thread relief with two dragons with slender scrolling bodies and jaws open as they confront each other on either side of the central knob rising from a quatrefoil within a square, all within an outer border of linked arcs, the quatrefoil and the linked arc border with silvery patina in contrast to the almost matte dark grey ground, the reverse also with silvery patina - 4 7/16 in. (11.3 cm.) diam., 1/16 in. (.2 cm.) thick, box - 108.1g 

Provenance: Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, New York, acquired in Hong Kong, 1992.

Note: Compare the mirror of this type with a similar treatment of the knob set on a quatrefoil within a square and with scrolling dragons in relief in the main field, but with the addition of four nipples, in the Sumitomo Collection, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Chinese Bronze Mirrors, Sen-Oku Hakuko Kan, Kyoto, 8 January - 6 March 2011, no. 21, where it is dated mid Western Han.

Christie's. Luminous Perfection: Fine Chinese Mirrors from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, 22 March 2012, New York, Rockefeller Center