Lot 197. A bronze 'Dragon' octalobed mirror, Tang Dynasty (618-907). Width 7 1/4 in., 18.3 cm. Estimate 15,000 — 20,000 USD. Lot sold 18,750 USD. Photo Sotheby's

crisply cast in relief, the central knob surrounded by a single three-clawed coiling dragon amidst cloud scrolls within a raised edge, with a dark silvery-gray patina. 

Provenance: Old Japanese collection, circa 1980, by repute.

Exhibited: Uragami Sokyu-do, Co., Ltd., Bronze Mirrors from Sui to Tang Dynasty, Tokyo, 10th November 2010, cat. no. 66.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 18 march 2014