Lot 1142. A rare small gold and silver-decorated bronze circular mirror, Tang dynasty (618-907); Mirror 2 13/16 in. (7.2 cm.) diam.; fitting 5½ in. (14 cm.) long. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000. Price Realised USD 10,625. © Christie's Image Ltd 2013

The very thin, slightly concave bronze mirror has a tiny loop in the center of a stylized flower-form applique of gold foil outlined and detailed in thin borders and fine gold granulation. The outer field is silver sheet finely chased with mythical birds and animals, including the Dark Warrior, reserved on a finely punched ground. The convex reverse has encrustation. Together with an unusual gilt-bronze hair ornament or fitting, Tang dynasty, which possibly represents a bird shown in flight, its five tail feathers joined by a V-shaped strap applied with bosses issuing from a simplified heart-shaped body set with a small hook shaped as a backwards-turned bird's head, above two further bosses on the underside. There is malachite encrustation and earth encrustation. 

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

Literature: Ornament: The Raymond A. Bidwell Collection of Chinese Bronzes and Ceramics, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1965, pp. 60-61.

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