An unusual silvery bronze octafoil mirror. Tang dynasty (618-907). Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012

Of linghua (water chestnut flower) shape, cast in relief with motifs representing the Moon Palace including a large guihua (osmanthus) tree, Chang'e in the form of an apsara holding a cartouche enclosing the characters, daji (Great Good Fortune), a pond set below a shui (water) character flanked by the hare preparing the elixir of longevity and a toad, all surrounding the tortoise-form knob and set within the raised edge of the outer barbed, petal-lobed border decorated with opposing pairs of insects, flower sprigs and clouds; 7 7/16 in. (19 cm.) across, 5/16 in. (.8 cm.) thick, box - 1305.5g. Estimate $40,000 - $60,000

唐 月宮菱花式鍍銀銅鏡

Provenance: A.W. Bahr (1877-1969).

Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, New York, acquired from Edna Bahr, Connecticut, late 1960s. 

Notes: Compare two very similar mirrors, also dated to the Tang dynasty, ca. 757-845, one illustrated inAncient Bronze Mirrors from the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2005, pp. 266-7, no. 95; the other in A Complete Collection of Trasures of the Palace Museum - 28 - Bronze Articles For Daily Life, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 198, no. 175. (Fig. 1) The imagery depicted on these mirrors represents the Moon Palace, which is occupied by a hare that pounds the Elixir of Immortality at the foot of the osmanthus tree, and is also inhabited by Chang'e who stole the elixir from her husband Hou Yi. The toad represents the embodiment of Chang'e. As included on these mirrors the tortoise may symbolize longevity or the universe, as the upper shell represents the heavens and its flat underside the earth. 

Christies. Luminous Perfection: Fine Chinese Mirrors from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, 22 March 2012, New York, Rockefeller Plaza