Lot 1152. A rare silvery bronze mirror, Tang dynasty (618-907); 5 in. (12.7 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price Realised USD 183,750. © Christie's Image Ltd 2013

The loop on the back is cast as the center of a rock formation, perhaps representing a mountain, which is surrounded by flowing water and hills. To one side a musician, possibly Prince Qiao, is seated playing the sheng, as a phoenix with raised tail spreads its wings on the other side, and two long-tailed birds fly above and below the central 'mountain'. The surface has a silvery patina. 

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

Literature: The Raymond A. Bidwell Collection of Chinese Bronzes and Ceramics, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1965, pp. 58-59.

Note: The decoration may represent the Prince Qiao, the crown prince of King Lin of Zhou, who was said to play so well that he lured the phoenix out of the heavens.

A very similar mirror, dated to the Tang dynasty, in the National Museum of Chinese History, is illustrated in A Journey into China's Antiquity, vol. 3, Beijing, 1997, p. 128, no. 127, where the story of Prince Qiao and the phoenix is described. 

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