| Ancient Animals |
 Mirror with gamboling animals Decorated in two bands circling the central knob, with high relief figures of dog like animals chasing each other interspersed with birds, this mirror is an superb example of the highly skilled bronze casting done in China, even into the Tang Dynasty. This example has a Middle Eastern flavor, which is due to the Silk Rout, which made China so rich in that period and exposed it to influences from far away. It is almost Classical in its naturalism in the depictions of the animals, and has a playfulness and freedom within its highly structured formal arrangement, unlike much earlier Chinese art. While it has been repaired and put back together, it remains a charming and beautiful example of a short lived moment in Chinese art. Following this, in the Tang period, bronze lost its place as the most esteemed medium, and the casting do not reach this level of quality. Of note too is the silver color of the bronze, due probably to a high tin content or some other unusual alloying, allowing this example to have been highly polished on the other side rendering it useful in its intended purpose, a mirror. Today we relish in the decorated back, which originally had a heavy silk cord going through the knob to allow it to be held with the reflecting surface towards its holder.  Detail showing one of the running dogs and the rayed borders between the bands.
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