Mirror with felines

Mirror. Surface: bright silvery patina with patches of green aerugo and earthy incrustation. Decoration: in relief, with additions of green and red color in central medallion. Inscription.

Historical period(s)
Sui dynasty, 581-618
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
Diam x D: 19.3 x 1.5 cm (7 5/8 x 9/16 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1930.37
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Mirror
Type

Mirror

Keywords
cat, China, inscription, Sui dynasty (581 - 618)
Provenance

1930
Yamanaka and Company, New York 1930 [1]

From 1930
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Yamanaka and Company, New York in 1930 [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file, undated folder sheet. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Yamanaka and Co. 1917-1965

Description

Mirror. Surface: bright silvery patina with patches of green aerugo and earthy incrustation. Decoration: in relief, with additions of green and red color in central medallion. Inscription.

Inscription(s)

1. (From original folder sheet note 3) (S. Cahill, 1983 - translation) Its beautiful box (decorated with) coiled dragon, its new platform with dancing phoenixes. [chn]

The simurgh startled as her reflection becomes visible; the sun's dazzling radiance opens up.
[chn]

Coiled (as it is), (I suspect a jade disk (pi) revolving; moon (like), it resembles a wheel returning.
[chn]

Her correct shape it mirrors from afar; the radiance reflected from her gall bladder comes.
[chn]

(J. Smith per Keith Wilson, 3/2009) 36-character inscription.

Label

The bronze has the bright silvery color associated with Sui and Tang mirrors. The inscription is a poem of thirty-six graphs, a rhymed riddle for which the answer is "mirror." It praises the mirror for its beauty, compares it to the moon, and refers to the legendary mirror of the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, which exposed unfaithful concubines. The content of the inscription shows the increase of secular subjects on mirrors of the Sui and Tang.

Published References
  • Nancy Thompson. The Evolution of the T'ang Lion and Grapevine Mirror. vol. 29, no. 1 Washington and Zurich. pp. 25-54, fig. 9.
  • Shensi-sheng ch'u-t'u t'ung-ching. Peking. p. 115, pl. 105.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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