Skinner Galleries photo
Lot of six bronze mirrors, Han to Ming period. Sold for $345 at Skinner Auction.

You could pay $400 for a 20th century, mass-produced, Hull pottery vase, one of the current "hot" Internet offerings, or $345 at auction for six ancient, Chinese Ming bronze mirrors.

By now you're probably wondering why am I writing about something the average person wouldn't be interested in? The plain fact is, they are around, and in most interesting designs.

Many were unearthed in the 1920s. Hundreds were made and treasured as far back as the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.) . And many have been unearthed in China over the centuries by rain, farming and landslides.

In the late 19th century, when the T'ang clay figures were first uncovered, many bronze mirrors also showed up. From time to time, Chinese peasants working their fields have uprooted them with their hoes.

Ancient bronze mirrors don't bear any resemblance to today's mirrors. The ones seen in most shops today are circular-shaped, without a handle and of the type made in the Han Period (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). In the center of the circle there usually is a knob.

By the very late T'ang Period (A.D. 923-935), mirrors had become highly prized articles, not only because they brought good luck - like wedding mirrors - and had other symbolical and magical functions, but for their beautiful inlaid work, gold and silver decorations. At that time new forms and shapes were added.

By the 7th and 8th centuries, the backs of the "good luck" wedding mirrors were often covered with silver and inlaid with gold and stylized motifs such as a lion or winged horse. Examples of these are in museums such as the Freer Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.

Like everything Chinese, even the mirror's shape was a symbol. The round mirrors represented the heavens and were considered the most desirable. These were often placed in half-moon shaped stands.

In size, the mirrors ranged from less than an inch in diameter to four and five inches.

One side was always perfectly polished and often covered with silver to improve the reflection. The other side was decorated and had a button-shaped, perforated knob, so that a cord or leather could be threaded through it and attached to a belt or held with a cord.

CLUES: As in any collecting field, mirrors have been reproduced. In a book on the subject published in 1937, "Ancient Chinese Bronze Mirrors" by R.W. Swallow, the author mentions the faking of mirrors in 1926. The book itself is a collectors' item, covered in a thin sheet of bronze, cast into the design of an ancient mirror.

There are some tests for age you can make before purchasing. They should be heavy, since the purpose was for it to survive over the ages. Thin pieces of bronze can easily be dented and damaged. The mirror should have a patina - not be brassy or shiny. That patina offers another clue. Scrape it was your fingernail. The patina should not come off easily.

Faked patinas will have a greasy feel. Experts suggest sniffing the piece. Fairly new bronze patinas will have a sharp acrid smell.

Above all, if you buy one, don't even think of polishing it.