Circular Mirror with Linked Arcs, Four Bosses, Abstract Decoration, and Central Boss in the Form of a Mountain Peak

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 2010.431
Title: Circular Mirror with Linked Arcs, Four Bosses, Abstract Decoration, and Central Boss in the Form of a Mountain Peak
Classification: Mirrors
Work Type: mirror
Date: 2nd century BCE
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China
Period: Han dynasty, Western Han period, 206 BCE-9 CE
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/315446

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Cast bronze
Dimensions: Diam. 11.2 cm (4 7/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History: Edmund Lin (1928-2006; Professor, Harvard Medical School), Boston; by bequest to the Harvard Art Museum

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Edmund Chi Chien Lin
Accession Year: 2010
Object Number: 2010.431
Division: Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact: am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description: This circular bronze mirror has a border of sixteen unembellished linked arcs. The decorated field is sunken. There is a very narrow inner border of radiating straight lines. Within the main decorated field there are four main bosses, each one on a circular field with a ten-point star pattern. Between the four bosses, there are scrolling lines in relief that connect smaller bosses, which lack the circular field surrounding the larger bosses. The central knob suggests a mountain with several peaks. The reflecting side of the mirror has been highly polished.

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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

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