Lot 857. A large silvery bronze mirror, Western Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 8); 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000. Price realised USD 25,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010.

The central loop set within a calyx motif within a square border enclosing a twelve-character inscription, with tripartite leaf motifs at the corners separating axial bosses flanked by grass-like designs, all within a scallop border, with malachite and ferrous encrustation, box.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong, 1989.

Exhibited: The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes, Singapore, 2000, no. 98.
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 2002-2006.

Note: A similar mirror with the same inscription, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, is illustrated by Ju-hsi Chou, Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000, pp. 32-3, no. 11, where the inscription, which invokes general blessings, is translated, p. 33. The author notes that a mirror of this type was found in the tomb of Liu Sheng, the Prince Jing of Zhongshan (d. 113 BC), who was buried in Mancheng, Hebei province. Although the mirror would have been made somewhat earlier, it shows the popularity of this type of mirror during this period. 

Christie's. The Sze Yuan Tang Archaic Bronzes from the Anthony Hardy Collection, New York, 16 September 2010