A BRONZE 'DRAGON' MIRROR Ming dynasty, dated by inscription to the 22nd year of the Hongwu period (1389)PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT WASHINGTON STATE COLLECTIONA BRONZE 'DRAGON' MIRRORMing dynasty, dated by inscription to the 22nd year of the Hongwu period (1389)Cast with a sinuous five-clawed dragon pursuing a flaming pearl over cresting waves, the rectangular cartouche to the left with an inscription reading Hongwu er shi er nian zheng yue ri zao, 'made in the first month of the twenty-second year of Hongwu period' (corresponding to 1389), the knob in the form of a three-peak mountain, all enclosed within a raised border. 4 3/8in (11.1cm) diam.明 龍紋銅鏡Provenance:Acquired in Toronto, 2015Compare a similarly cast mirror with this design in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by Geng Baochang in Ming Qing ciqi jianding [Connoisseurship of Ming and Qing Porcelains], Beijing, 1993, p. 11, no. 10. See also a similar example from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, illustrated on the museum's website (acc. no. 12.816). Two further examples of this type reside in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Gugong tongqi tulu [Illustrated Catalogue of Bronzes in the Palace Museum Collection], Taipei, 1958. Another sold at Christie's, Paris, 21-22 June 2016, lot 147.