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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2010.438
Title
Lobed Mirror with Relief Decoration of Rong Qiqi and Confucius and with an Explanatory Inscription
Classification
Mirrors
Work Type
mirror
Date
8th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period
Tang dynasty, 618-907
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/315439

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Cast bronze
Dimensions
Diam. 12.9 cm (5 1/16 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
2010.438
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
This eight-lobed circular mirror has a relatively narrow, undecorated rim. The decorative field is wide, circular and lightly sunken. Two figures appear -- Confucius on left and Rong Qiqi on right --with a hemispherical knob in between. Below the knob (at the six-o'clock position) is a willow tree. At the top, in a horizontally oriented rectangular cartouche, there is an inscription of nine characters, three characters arranged in each column: Rong Qiqi / Wen Yue Hui / Kong Fuzi [Rong Qiqi was questioned by and replied to Confucius]. On the reflecting side of the mirror there are localized areas of relatively thick patina, in which there are both pseudomorphs and actual silk fragments.

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