Cleveland Museum of Art

TLV Mirror with Multiple Nipples

Date

9–23 CE

Medium

bronze

Culture

China, Xin dynasty (9–23 CE)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The inscription in this mirror reads: A fine mirror it is, my making of it! I can show the ageless immortals up above. They wander over the earth and belittle the Four Oceans. They live as long as metal and stone, And are true protectors of our kingdom. These poetic lines suggest the reflective and magical qualities of the bronze mirror in the Chinese imagination. Besides reflecting the immortals, it illuminated the human soul so that it would be in tune with forces of yin and yang in Chinese cosmology. This mirror includes a poetic inscription that credits the immortals as protectors of the kingdom.

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