Harvard Art Museums > 1943.52.170: Circular Mirror with Decoration of Daoist Immortals and Dragons Mirrors Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Circular Mirror with Decoration of Daoist Immortals and Dragons , 1943.52.170,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 18, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/204349. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text By the Eastern Han period (when the Han capital was located in present-day Luoyang, Henan province), Chinese potters had discovered the efficacy of using lead-fluxed glazes for their ceramic burial wares. As a fluxing agent, lead oxide lowers the melting point of a glaze, reducing the amount of fuel required for firing. Copper and iron metal oxides were added to the glaze to impart the green and brown colors reminiscent of bronzes with different patinas; they were thus especially useful for glazing ceramic wares that imitated more expensive bronze ritual vessels. The decorative elements on these objects—mystical mountains with swirling clouds, mythical beasts, immortal figures, and bear-form supports—are associated with cosmological realms of immortals and closely replicate the relief ornamentation on sumptuous Han bronzes. Although the tombs of the most wealthy and important Han personages continued to be furnished luxuriously, ceramic reproductions of expensive burial goods and tomb sculptures representing animals, servants, and entertainers became acceptable substitutes for real objects and living creatures. Identification and Creation Object Number 1943.52.170 Title Circular Mirror with Decoration of Daoist Immortals and Dragons Classification Mirrors Work Type mirror Date late 2nd-early 3rd century CE Places Creation Place: East Asia, China Period Eastern Han (25-220) to Three Kingdoms (220-280) period Culture Chinese Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/204349 Location Location Level 1, Room 1600, Early Chinese Art, Arts of Ancient China from the Bronze Age to the Golden Age View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Cast bronze with integrally cast auspicious inscription Dimensions Diam. 12.4 x Thickness 1.1 cm (4 7/8 x 7/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (by 1943), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop Accession Year 1943 Object Number 1943.52.170 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS. The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Publication History Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), no. 059, pp. 64-65 Exhibition History S427: Ancient Chinese Bronzes and Jades, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008 32Q: 1600 Early China II, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050 Subjects and Contexts Google Art Project Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
