probably 12th century
This circular bronze mirror has a plain outer border of medium width. The main decorated field is circular, slightly sunken, and bordered by a circle of tiny beads. The main field is filled with peony scrolls in relatively low relief. The reflecting side of the mirror has been highly polished, but bears localized areas of brown patina.
Diam. 21.8 cm (8 9/16 in.)
Edmund Lin (1928-2006; Professor, Harvard Medical School), Boston; by bequest to the Harvard Art Museum
Cast bronze, the inset silver plaque on the reverse with repoussé designs; with a dated inscription on the reverse, beneath the inset plaque
7th centuryChineseCast bronze, the inset gold back with repoussé and ring-punched designs
8th centuryChineseCast bronze with remains of turquoise inlay
5th-3rd century BCEChineseLacquered wood
19th centuryPersianBronze
3rd century BCEEtruscanCast bronze
7th-8th centuryChineseLeaded bronze
1st-2nd century CERomanCast bronze with integrally cast auspicious inscription
2nd-3rd century CEChineseCast bronze with traces of gold over a lacquer (?) substrate
8th centuryChineseCast bronze
7th-8th centuryChineseOpaque and semi-opaque watercolor on prepared pasteboard under varnish
18th-19th centuryCast bronze
2nd century BCEChinese