Lot 167. A fine silvered bronze mirror, Sui-Tang Dynasty (581-907). 4 in., 9.8 cm. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 USD. Lot sold 13,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the circular mirror crisply cast around a domed knob in the central well with four running animals including a ram, and three senmurv-like animals, perhaps a boar, fox and mythical beast, enclosed by a raised ridge and further encircled by a foliate palmette scroll beneath the raised rim, the surface of a bright silver patina.

Note: The ram on this mirror is particularly well modeled.  For an identical mirror in the Donald H. Graham Jr. Collection, see Bronze Mirrors from Ancient China, 1994, no. 71. 

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 31 mars 2005