2010.433: Circular Mirror with Four Bosses, Thread-Relief Decoration of Dragons, Birds, Tigers, and Other Animals, Quatrefoil, and Auspicious Inscription
Mirrors
This object does not yet have a description.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2010.433
- Title
- Circular Mirror with Four Bosses, Thread-Relief Decoration of Dragons, Birds, Tigers, and Other Animals, Quatrefoil, and Auspicious Inscription
- Classification
- Mirrors
- Work Type
- mirror
- Date
- 1st century BCE
- Places
- Creation Place: East Asia, China
- Period
- Han dynasty, Western Han period, 206 BCE-9 CE
- Culture
- Chinese
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/315418
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Cast bronze
- Dimensions
- Diam. 18.6 cm (7 5/16 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
- Edmund Lin (1928-2006; Professor, Harvard Medical School), Boston; by bequest to the Harvard Art Museum
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Edmund Chi Chien Lin
- Accession Year
- 2010
- Object Number
- 2010.433
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
- This circular mirror has a wide, flat outer rim embellished with a slightly sunken ring of chevron patterns in thread-relief down the center. This rim gives way to a beveled edge that sinks down to a lower field of decoration consisting of a narrow band of radiating lines; a circular band of animals in thread-relief; another narrow band of radiating lines; a band of medium width that is plain and undecorated; another band of radiating lines; and finally a quatrefoil with characters interspersed between each leaf. The four chracters between the leaves read "Chang Yi Zi Sun" (may your sons and grandsons appreciate this for a long time). The quatrefoil and chracters surround a hemispherical knob at the center. Within the circular band of animals in thread-relief, there are four tiny bosses that rise in relief; each boss is surrounded by a circle of linked arcs that form an eight-pointed star. In the patina on the reflecting surface, there are fabric pseudomorphs as well as actual remains of silk.
Verification Level
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