Mirror with Scene of Daoist Immortals and Flying Horses
- 224
The images on this mirror refer to the cult of Kunlun-the axis of the universe and a mountain where all immortals dwelled. A goddess known as the Queen Mother of the West was the Kunlun ruler, who conferred immortality on her believers and registered their souls in her paradise. Here, she poses with her four attendants on the lower part of the mirror. King Father of the East, her male counterpart, can be seen with four attendants on the upper part. Between them are two large columns of winged horses emerging from the mountain formations, galloping around the motionless universal axis, the central knot of the mirror. These pictorial motifs are enclosed by a band of inscription:
The Zhou family made this mirror. Barbarians of the four directions have all submitted. May the state and the people be at rest. May the barbarians be destroyed and the Empire be restored. May wind and rain be coming in the right time and the five types of grains be harvested in bounty. May our parents be forever protected by the blessing of heaven. May endless happiness be extended to our descendants.
James Freeman;
His gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1986.
Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 282 (repro.).
Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 308, no. 83 (repro.).
