Mirror with Jade Disk Inset (475 BCE–9 CE): Art, History and Details

Mirror with Jade Disk Inset (475 BCE–9 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Mirrors with a jade disk inset are perhaps the rarest of all known bronze mirrors in China. This object's conception was unquestionably aristocratic, and it was meticulously and exquisitely crafted. Aided by the skillful carving of its surface, the nephrite here exhibits a subtle luminosity. The disk features within the inner circle a pair of phoenixes and in the outer ring a set of four oxen masks having extended and interlocking horns-motifs often seen in jades of the late Warring States period and early Western Han dynasty. Consequently, this mirror has been dated to that span of time.

Object facts

• Title: Mirror with Jade Disk Inset
• Date: 475 BCE–9 CE
• Culture: China, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–256 BCE), Warring States period (475–221 BCE) to Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze with nephrite and turquoise
• Dimensions: Diameter: 15.3 cm (6 in.)
• Collection: China - Han Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 2002.5

Collection credit

Gift of various donors to the department of Chinese art (by exchange)

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.