Cruciform Mirror with Six Blossoms (960–1127): Art, History and Details

Cruciform Mirror with Six Blossoms (960–1127) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This cross-shaped mirror has a simple wide frame and a small knob. A part of the floral pattern surrounding the knob has been compromised, likely due to poor casting or damage. The mirror is decorated with designs of flower branches and leaves, which encapsulate six flowers. A few of these branches protrude beyond the beaded circular border to touch the edge of the outer circle, adding a playful dynamism. Similar motifs can be found on silver objects and porcelain of this period.

Object facts

• Title: Cruciform Mirror with Six Blossoms
• Date: 960–1127
• Culture: China, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 0.7 x 16.5 cm (1/4 x 6 1/2 in.); Rim: 0.4 cm (3/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Song Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1999.222

A detail from the museum

Bronze mirrors were made in China from neolithic times until the Qing dynasty, when glass mirrors were brought to China from the West.

Collection credit

Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Rare Chinese Paintings, Baroque Porcelain Plaque and Other New Acquisitions Exhibited with Hanging Scrolls,” December 20, 1999, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Chou, Ju-hsi. Circles of reflection: the Carter collection of Chinese bronze mirrors. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.