Mirror, “Animal cycle type” (Ssu-ling shih-er hsiao: 4 spirits and 12 zodiacs)

Description

Luxury Chinese Mirrors
China has had mirrors since the late second millennium BCE. Traditional Chinese mirrors took the form of bronze disks with a polished reflecting surface and relief decorations cast on the back, as seen in these four examples from a wide range of dynastic periods. A braided silk cord was passed through the knob at the center of the back that was used as a handle for the mirror. Variations in the surface color or the patina of these mirrors—from silvery to green to black—result from different ratios of copper and tin (the components of bronze) and burial conditions, as mirrors were personal accessories that customarily accompanied the deceased to the afterlife.

5. Mirror with hook-and-volute
dragon design
China, Warring States period,
Eastern Zhou dynasty (771-256 BCE)
3rd century BCE
Cast bronze with silver and malachite patina
Museum purchase, 1958/2.76

Decoration on the backs of bronze mirrors
usually follows the styles current in metalwork
of the period. The delicate design on this
Warring States-period mirror is a beautiful
curvilinear pattern known as hook-and-volute–
a highly abstracted form of a dragon. It is found
on bronze vessels as well as textile decoration
from the period.

6. Animal cycle type mirror
China, Sui (581-618) or Tang dynasty (618-907)
7th century
Cast bronze with malachite and azurite patina
The Oliver J. Todd Memorial Collection,
1974/1.180

Ideas or motifs from Daoism and its practical
offshoot, fengsui philosophy, sometimes appear
on mirror backs as embellishments. The inner
decorative field of this seventh-century mirror
is decorated with the Four Spirits, animals that
represent the four points of the compass: the
blue dragon represents the east, the red bird
the south, the white tiger the west, and a snake
or tortoise, known as the “dark warrior,” the
north. On the outer field are the twelve familiar
animals of the Chinese zodiac.

7. Mirror with tiger design and eight-
character inscription
China, Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE)
Cast bronze with malachite and silver patina
The Oliver J. Todd Memorial Collection,
1974/1.168

From Han times short inscriptions of a
symbolic or auspicious nature also began to
appear as decoration on the backs of bronze
mirrors. Surrounding the large central knob
of this mirror are stylized crouching tigers.
Between them is an eight-character inscription
that perfectly captures the aspirations of the
scholarly class in Han-dynasty China: zhangyi
zisun, junyi gaoguan, or “across many generations
of sons and grandsons, may [your descendants]
always attain high official positions.”

8. Lion-and-grape mirror
China, Tang dynasty (618-907)
Cast bronze with black patina
Museum purchase, 1958/2.74

In the Tang dynasty, it was the lion and the
grape motif that appealed most to wealthy
members of society for the decoration of
mirrors. Grapes had been introduced through
trade with west Asia during the Han dynasty
(206 BCE– 220 CE) and clusters of grapes came
to be associated in China with prosperity and
large numbers of offspring. Lions had been
symbols of royal authority in ancient Persia and
India and entered China as exotic tributes from
Central Asia. They became a popular motif on
Pan-Asian metalwork and textiles of the period.
The best of the lion-and-grape mirrors, with
their vigorous designs cast in sharp, high relief,
as seen in this example, rank among the finest
metalwork produced in Chinese history.

Fall 2022 Gallery Rotation
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China has had mirrors since the late second millennium BCE. Traditional Chinese mirrors were in the form of bronze disks with a polished reflecting surface and relief decorations cast on the back, as seen in these four examples from a wide range of dynastic periods. A braided silk cord was passed through the knob at the center of the back that was used as a “handle” for the mirror. Variations in surface color or patina of these mirrors—from silvery to green to black – result from different ratios of copper and tin (the components of bronze) and burial conditions, as mirrors were personal accessories that customarily accompanied the deceased to the afterlife.
Ideas or motifs from Daoism and fengsui philosophy sometimes appear on mirror backs as embellishments. The inner decorative field of the seventh-century mirror is decorated with the “Four Spirits,” animals that represent the four points of the compass: the blue dragon of the east; the red bird of the south; the white tiger of the west, and the “dark warrior” (a snake or tortoise) of the north. On the outer field are the twelve familiar animals of the Chinese zodiac.
(Label for UMMA Chinese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)