TLV Mirror with Four Spirits and Companions

Cleveland Museum of Art

TLV Mirror with Four Spirits and Companions

Date
9–100 CE
Medium
bronze
Culture
China, Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE)
Department
Chinese Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
159110

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

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.

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Open this page QR destination: https://linkedculture.org/q/q1.WD38OPsHKYsCB1bq.Om7TLqpGCtdQYHUFsCJe-Sqwt3_UvdTzccE_97ZQlUgUSsCqzVlW-UC2oMUhCirhHzkdlPs-ZFNzm5micVyKrqSadlfKHCf3mi6fvj6KlcnbREScXJVmpuT0gB64GrNM6y9KjPNpUs4EIeF5o6UOj3rrinDmbj5AgafPgPMLgYJPThAnBWXPvuSNgjdHv9Fyza8gBtIU5DSblf5AFobrQEGSjavIGYCHTqTz5xq4l0MHuYTdwp-wxhStQ2hmL5gGnu3Zac7B-hFCKgx4dKbKO0rFGwgUCIHCqjE1ayOReuuvLaVuzQSee at Cleveland Museum of Art QR destination: https://linkedculture.org/q/q1.Msnso-VwLwVCOpC9.cGJiyF_WFZOHuqHuq0STGH1TKEBomzbBhFsM9YFRp0IRtst1uSz-PacsFh6DnAPt-F5Sc91VTR9b2X0yhc6lB84JzM8rB9vdDQ8nduxxYZZ3ZzNp-B1ASUnGgIstHiv7sGZaxkTdnHaGmKi5b5795qUo7_D3D2LF6BvOuMJbk7aq5w8hgDKs8RWbxtDnUjTdnxzXrC-4FvP6iFfIR8yDoDiGyRhr8LjoN-9L__23_THieXsb00zfj_0fT2RLRACSqqqGFY9_wifJ-RPEvpwYIC0CUqztwhL_j7UM5a8N9Q
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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee
Provenance
?-1995: Thomas and Martha Carter, Madison, WI, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 1995-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Part of a LinkedCulture topic

  • Representative object from the topic Chinese Bronze Mirrors
    Chinese Bronze Mirrors

    These objects are all bronze mirrors from various Chinese dynasties, spanning from the Eastern Zhou period through the Yuan dynasty, representing a continuous tradition of decorative metalwork.

    175 objects from 4 institutions

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