Lot Essay
The decoration on this 'TLV’ mirror and others like it is now believed to be derived from the layout of Qin and Han dynasty liubo game boards. A similar mirror is illustrated in Ancient Bronze Mirrors in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2005, pp. 158-9, no. 42, where the knob can be seen to rise from a similar quatrefoil. See, also, the 'TLV’ mirror from the collection of the Springfield Museums, Massachusetts, sold at Christie’s New York, 21-22 March 2013, lot 1139.