Oil lamp, cast bronze, inlaid with silver, Jazira; 1st half of 13th century. H: 14.5; Diam at foot: 7.4 cm, Inv. no. 29/2003. © The David Collection. The lamp’s “scarred” surface shows that it had been richly inlaid more or less all over. Remnants are...

Mirror, cast bronze, Eastern Turkey; 600 or 660 H = 1204 or 1262. H at rim: 0.8; Diam: 24 cm, Inv. no. 4/1996. © The David Collection. This might be the most famous mirror from the Islamic cultural sphere. It was published as early as 1811 as being in...

Sphinx, cast bronze, Eastern Turkey; 12th-13th century. H: 12; L: 10.8 cm, Inv. no. 5/1978. © The David Collection. The little sphinx was probably a fountain figure from which water emerged in three jets: through the sphinx’s mouth and the mouths of the...

A fine cast bronze seated figure of Guanyin, 17th century. Estimate US$50,000 - 70,000 ( €44,000 - 62,000). Photo: Bonhams. Her hair carefully combed and pinned in an elaborate coiffure fronted by a figure of a seated Buddha as she turns toward her right...

A cast bronze standing figure of an immortal, Ming dynasty, 16th-17th century. Estimate US$ 20,000 - 30,000 ( €18,000 - 27,000). Photo: Bonhams. Dressed in a scholar's cap with trailing ribbons, his layered garments tied with a sash suspending an immortal's...

A rare cast bronze finial, dingshi, Warring States period. Estimate US$ 8,000 - 12,000 ( €7,100 - 11,000 ). Photo: Bonhams. Formed as a mythical bird in a resting pose, the finial delicately decorated with naturalistic wings, scales and feathers and a...