A Chinese television show audience watched dumbstruck as a presenter's
assistant accidentally smashed a 2,500-year-old bronze mirror.
The mirror, dating back to the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), was
being held up for display on a China Central Television programme, when it fell
from its wooden casket.
The programme, shot on Jan. 14, was to select "ten most valuable treasures"
from China's private collections.
The accident left the audience and crew silent and stunned until experts
rushed on to the stage to pick up the pieces.
The mirror's owner, renowned antique collector Chen Fengjiu, said the
CD-sized mirror was the only one of its kind and other collectors had offered 1
million U.S. dollars to buy it.
The program's producer has promised to invite leading antique experts to
repair the brittle mirror, but there have been no published offers of
compensation.
Experts said the mirror, which was gilded and inlaid with 11 turquoise
stones, demonstrated the craftsmanship of the Warring States Period and was of
great value.
