TLV Mirror with Four Spirits and Companions (9–100 CE): Art, History and Details

TLV Mirror with Four Spirits and Companions (9–100 CE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The back of this mirror shows a diagram of the universe. The concentric rings and swirling cloud band border represent heaven, while the square field around the knob designates the earth. The four directional spirits in the form of animals occupy the space between heaven and earth and are cast in fine lines between the band of swirling clouds and outside the square: the tiger guarding the west, the dragon protecting the east, the red bird representing the south, and the snake-entwined turtle guarding the north.

Object facts

• Title: TLV Mirror with Four Spirits and Companions
• Date: 9–100 CE
• Culture: China, Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Diameter: 19 cm (7 1/2 in.); Overall: 1.2 cm (1/2 in.); Rim: 0.7 cm (1/4 in.)
• Collection: China - Han Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1995.301

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.