Cleveland Museum of Art

Mirror with Xiwangmu

Date: c. 317–400 CE
Medium: bronze
Culture: China, Six Dynasties period (220–589 CE)
Department: Chinese Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

This mirror depicts Xiwangmu, Queen Mother of the West, and her husband, Dongwanggong, King Father of the East, surrounded by mythical figures and animals. One of the earliest and most powerful goddesses in the Daoist pantheon, Xiwangmu can be identified by her U-shaped crown. Legend says that the two deities meet once a year representing the meeting of yin and yang, the two forces that constitute the universe. This mirror shows a band of 14 squares around the center containing a long inscription.

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