Mirror

Mirror, patinated in shades of gray with slight incrustations of malachite and rust on the obverse; 5 long-necked birds in linear relief against a background of curl and feather design in one zone on the reverse.

Historical period(s)
Warring States period, Late Eastern Zhou dynasty, 4th-3rd century BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
Diam x D: 16.5 x 0.9 cm (6 1/2 x 3/8 in)
Geography
China, Hunan province, Changsha
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1941.1
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Mirror
Type

Mirror

Keywords
China, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), Warring States period (475 - 221 BCE)
Provenance

Excavated at Ch’ang-sha, Hunan Province in July 1937. [1]

To 1941
John Hadley Cox (1913-2005), Cambridge, Massachusetts. [2]

From 1941
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from John Hadley Cox, Cambridge, Massachusetts. [3]

Notes:

[1] See Mr. Cox’s letter from October 3, 1940, object folder, undated folder sheet note 2. According to Mr. Cox’s letter, "The mirror was excavated at Ch'ang-sha, Hunan Province, in July of 1937. The tomb was of deep shaft construction of the type briefly described in the brochure published by the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale University at the time of the exhibition of the Ch'ang-sha antiquities.” See also Curatorial Remark 2 in the object record.

[2] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

[3] See note 2.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

John Hadley Cox 1913-2005

Description

Mirror, patinated in shades of gray with slight incrustations of malachite and rust on the obverse; 5 long-necked birds in linear relief against a background of curl and feather design in one zone on the reverse.

Published References
  • Robert L. Hobson, W. Perceval Yetts. The George Eumorfopoulos Collection of Chinese, Corean, and Persian Pottery and Porcelain. 6 vols., London. vol. 2: p. 31.
  • A. E. K. Cull, James K. Cull, W. Perceval Yetts. The Cull Chinese Bronzes. London. pls. 23-24.
  • Report of the Secretary, 1941/42. Washington. pl. 4.
  • Bernhard Karlgren. Huai and Han. no. 13 Stockholm. pp. 1-125, pls. 1-80.
  • Orvar Karlbeck. Notes on Some Early Chinese Bronze Mirrors. vol. 4 Shanghai, January - June 1926. pp. 3-9.
  • Orvar Karlbeck. Catalogue of the Collection of Chinese and Korean Bronzes at Hallwyl House. Stockholm. p. 15.
  • Dagny Carter. Four Thousand Years of China's Art. New York. p. 45, b.
  • Compiled by the staff of the Freer Gallery of Art. A Descriptive and Illustrative Catalogue of Chinese Bronzes: Acquired During the Administration of John Ellerton Lodge. Oriental Studies Series, no. 3 Washington, 1946. p. 65, pl. 36.
  • Thomas Lawton. Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Continuity, 480-222 B.C. Washington, 1982-1983. cat. 39, p. 85.
  • Sheila Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom. Islamic Arts. Art and Ideas London. pp. 274-6, figs. 146-7.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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