A bronze circular mirror with inscription. Late Western Han dynasty, 2nd-1st Century BC. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2012

Crisply cast, the central knob rising from a quatrefoil cast with characters in between, set within concentric circles of hatchured and plain bands, linear motifs between a band of eight joined arcs, and an inscription within hatchured borders, all below sawtooth bands on the rim, with satiny grey patina and some malachite encrustation; 7 7/16 in. (19 cm.) diam., ¼ in. (.5 cm.) thick, box - 1024.3g . Estimate $15,000 - $18,000

西漢晚期 湅治銅華長宜子孫銘銅鏡

Provenance: Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, New York, acquired in Hong Kong, 1988.

Notes: A similar mirror excavated in 1973 at Changzhou, Jiangsu province, is illustrated in Zhongguo Qingtongqi Quanji - 16 - Bronze Mirrors, Beijing, 1998, p. 52, no. 51, where it is dated Western Han dynasty. Another is illustrated in Bronze Mirrors from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Shanghai, 1987, no. 37. See, also, the mirror of this type without the sawtooth band on the rim, illustrated by J. Rawson and E. Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic Society, Hong Kong, 1990, pp. 244-5, no. 164

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