Lot 5. A bronze 'TLV' mirror, Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD); 7¼ in. (18.2 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 3,000 - GBP 5,000. Price realised GBP 3,585. © Christie's Images Ltd 2003.

The underside crisply cast in shallow relief with a central pierced boss surrounded by a square of sharp studs alternating with seal characters within a field of thread-relief depicting Immortals, animals and Spirits of the Four Directions, studs and 'TLV' motifs, within concentric bands of seal characters, saw-tooth and double zig-zag patterns, the reverse of shallow convex shape, the highly polished bronze with a spinach green patina.

Note: A similar mirror was included in the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Bronze Mirrors in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, p.110, pl.41, incorporating the same basic elements in the central square with leaf motifs in the spandrels surrounded by alternating characters and studs within the main field of mythological spirits and a border with 33 characters. For variations on the TLV pattern, cf. idem., pls.34-51. Another closely related example is illustrated by Guy Tredaniel, Les Miroirs de Bronze Anciens, Paris, 1989, p.228.

Christie's. Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, including Export Art, London, 11 November 2003