Lot 4144. A bronze 'Geometric design' mirror, Eastern Han dynasty (25-220), 6 1/4 in. (16 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 40,000 - HKD 60,000. Price realised HKD 30,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The circular mirror with a central domed knob which is raised on a quatrefoil platform intercepted by four characters Changyi zisun, 'To benefit a long line of descendents', encircled by a scalloped band enclosing floral and three-line symbols. The outer field is embellished with rings of circle-dotted lines and hatch pattern, all below a broad rim. The bronze has a silvery patina and areas of malachite encrustation, Japanese wood box. 

Provenance: A Japanese private collection, acquired circa 1980    

Note: A number of mirrors of similar pattern are known. Two are in the Idemitsu Collection, illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1989, pls. 276 and 278. One is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Palace Museum's Collections of Bronze Mirrors, Beijing, 2008, pl. 18. Another two in the Donald H. Graham Jr. Collection are illustrated by Wong Yanchung, 'Bronze Mirror Art of the Han Dynasty', Chinese Bronzes - Selected articles from Orientations 1983-2000, Hong Kong, 2001, pp. 64-65, figs. 12-13. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 30 May 2012, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall