Mirror with Auspicious Animals Surrounded by Rings of Squares and Semicircles (late 100s CE): Art, History and Details

Mirror with Auspicious Animals Surrounded by Rings of Squares and Semicircles (late 100s CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Inscription: I made this bright mirror By refining the three metals. BoYa is making music; The multitude of gods display their forms. [The mirror] is suitable for a man with great wealth and good fortune. He [who has it] will add years to life. His descendants will also prosper. Even this master will enjoy longevity.

Object facts

• Title: Mirror with Auspicious Animals Surrounded by Rings of Squares and Semicircles
• Date: late 100s CE
• Culture: China, Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Diameter: 11.8 cm (4 5/8 in.); Overall: 0.8 cm (5/16 in.); Rim: 0.4 cm (3/16 in.)
• Collection: China - Han Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1995.324

Collection credit

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

Further reading listed by the museum

• 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.