Mirror with Deities and Kings (100s CE): Art, History and Details

Mirror with Deities and Kings (100s CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Decorated with historic figures from the former states of Wu and Yue, this mirror illustrates the rivalry between the states of Wu (around the Lake Tai basin) and Yue (around Hangzhou Bay) that eventually resulted in the defeat of Wu in 473 BCE. Its downfall became a story retold during the Han dynasty on mirrors from the Shaoxing era. During the relatively peaceful Han dynasty, the number of bronze mirrors used in burials and as gifts increased, as less metal was used for weaponry. Previously known for sword making and having rich metal resources, places like Shaoxing in Zhejiang province became centers of mirror production.

Object facts

• Title: Mirror with Deities and Kings
• Date: 100s CE
• Culture: China, Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Diameter: 19.5 cm (7 11/16 in.); Overall: 1.9 cm (3/4 in.); Rim: 1 cm (3/8 in.)
• Collection: China - Han Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1995.331

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, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.
• Griswold, William, Xiaofei Tian, Richard Von Glahn, Feng Zhao, S. J. Vainker, Masaaki Itakura, Jiang Wu, et al. China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. Edited by Clarissa Von Spee. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023.

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.