- Identification and Creation
-
- Object Number
- 2010.435
- Title
- Circular Mirror with Decoration of Concentric Circles, Linked Arcs, and Quatrefoil
- Classification
- Mirrors
- Work Type
- mirror
- Date
- late 1st century
- Places
- Creation Place: East Asia, China
- Period
- Han dynasty, Eastern Han period, 25-220 CE
- Culture
- Chinese
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/315416
- Physical Descriptions
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- Medium
- Cast bronze
- Dimensions
- Diam. 19.6 cm (7 11/16 in.)
- Provenance
- Edmund Lin (1928-2006; Professor, Harvard Medical School), Boston; by bequest to the Harvard Art Museum
- Acquisition and Rights
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- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Edmund Chi Chien Lin
- Accession Year
- 2010
- Object Number
- 2010.435
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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- Descriptions
-
- Description
- This circular bronze mirror has a wide, flat, unembellished rim that leads into a slightly sunken decorative band of short, radiating lines and concentric circles. Within this decorative band are eight linked arcs in slight relief. The linked arcs form an eight-pointed star that surrounds a ring and quatrefoil. There is a large hemispherical knob at the center. A four-character inscription incorporated into four points of the eight-pointed star read: "Shou Ru Jin Shi" [May you have a life as long as metal and stone]. Another four-character inscription incorporated into the spaces between the quatrefoil reads: "Chang Yi Zi Sun" [May your sons and grandsons cherish this for a long time.] The reflecting side of the mirror has been cleaned, but within the patina that remains there is some evidence of textile remains.
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This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu