Cleveland Museum of Art

Mirror with a Pair of Phoenixes

Date

1100s

Medium

bronze

Culture

China, Song dynasty (960–1279)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This exceptionally large bronze mirror features magnificently long-tailed phoenixes with cloud scrolls, motifs that can also be seen on the silk boots nearby. While the mirror, according to its inscription Zhang Zhigao from Jinling ( Nanjing ) was made in southeast China, the boots were made in the northern part of China then occupied by the Khitan people. The inscription is placed to the right of the mirror’s central knob. Mirrors typically have one polished and one decorated side and were used in part in tombs for ritual purpose or served as disks for reflection. A union of male and female birds, the phoenix often symbolizes the yin and yang of Chinese philosophy, which equates to universal balance and harmony.

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