Lobed Mirror with Heaven and Earth between the Paired Phoenixes

Cleveland Museum of Art

Lobed Mirror with Heaven and Earth between the Paired Phoenixes

Date
mid to late 700s
Medium
bronze
Culture
China, Tang dynasty (618-907)
Department
Chinese Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
159163

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

This mirror bears an important inscription as well as symbolic imagery of the Eight Trigrams and Heaven and Earth to express the ancient Chinese cosmological ideas. The inscription reads: Circle above and square below: These are symbolic of heaven and earth. In the middle are the Eight Trigrams. Making clear [the forces of] yin and yang. Stars and constellations are well aligned; The sun and the moon are virtuous and bright. Circulating around [the earth] is water, Giving identity to the Four Great Rivers. Within are the mountain ranges, To signify the lordly heights. This mirror contains cosmological symbolism with heaven represented by a large circle at top and earth by a square at bottom.

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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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