BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- 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.