Lot 1140. Two miniature silver-decorated bronze hexagonal mirrors, Tang dynasty (618-907); 2 1/16 and 2 3/8 in. (5.2 and 6 cm.) across. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000. Price Realised USD 10,625. © Christie's Image Ltd 2013

One is of scalloped outline and is inlaid with a silver sheet decorated in repoussé with a crouching animal loop surrounded by two lions alternating with two birds amidst leafy meander reserved on a ring-punched ground below narrow rope-twist and ring-punched borders. The loop of the hexalobed mirror is encircled by an eight-petaled flower head and two pairs of geese executed in chased silver sheet inlaid in a lacquer ground. 

Provenance: Raymond A. Bidwell (1876-1954) Collection.
The Springfield Museums, Springfield, Massachusetts, accessioned in 1962.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 21 - 22 March 2013, New York, Rockefeller Plaza