Cosmic Mirror
CultureChinese
Date1st century C.E.
MediumHigh-tin bronze alloy and gilt bronze (lacquered wood sections are modern replacements)
DimensionsOverall: 14 5/8 × 11 inches (37.15 × 27.94 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: the Edith Ehrman Memorial Fund
Object numberF95-18/1
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 231
Collections
DescriptionThe mirror is of unusually large size, with a plain central boss surrounded by four large petal motifs matching the design of the mount around the stem of the stand, enclosed within narrow "rope-twist" and plain borders, in turn surrounded by eight semi-circles interspersed with alternating linear motifs cast in thread relief, the outer band cast with eight spirals evenly spaced amidst oblique lines forming pointed arcs between "rope-twist" bands, all within a wide, flat-raised border around the rim, the silvery bronze with attractive bright-green encrustation matching the encrustation of the stand and mounts which are now rejoined by replacement lacquered wood elements.Gallery LabelChinese mirrors were luxury items, intimately associated with grooming and dress, but also objects of magical symbolism, averting evil and illumining the darkness of the tomb. Their reverse was frequently decorated with auspicious and cosmic themes, such as the starburst ornament on this mirror which possibly signifies the heavens and constellations. Most mirrors were hand-held using a silk ribbon threaded through the knob, but this one, because of its exceptional size and weight, was provided with a stand.
J. J. Lally & Co.;
Purchased from J. J. Lally & Co. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1995.
Xiaoneng Yang, “A Han Bronze Mirror and Its Gilt Bronze Stand in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,” Oriental Art, vol. XLII, no. 1 (1996), 15 (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), 304, no. 70 (repro.).
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