The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Mirror with Interlacing Floral Motifs and Twelve Zodiac Animals

late 500s–early 600s

China, Sui dynasty

(581-618)
bronze
Diameter: 15.4 cm (6 1/16 in.); Overall: 1.4 cm (9/16 in.); Rim: 0.5 cm (3/16 in.)
Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee 1995.336
Location: Not on view

Description

The design of this mirror consists of a central knob and a series of concentric circular bands. The innermost band contains an eight-word inscription, with phrasing typical of earlier mirrors found in the Sui and early Tang periods:

The mirror's light shows the man inside. May you live a long life and [constantly] renew yourself.

Floral branches interlace in the second band. The controlled undulation produces five segments. The third band is divided into twelve parts, which house the zodiac animals in the clockwise sequence: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog, and boar. A sunken ring of the well-known sawtooth design continues to be effective, before the undecorated rim sets the final enclosure.
  • ?–1995
    Thomas and Martha Carter, Madison, WI, the Cleveland Museum of Art,
    1995–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Chou, Ju-hsi. Circles of reflection: the Carter collection of Chinese bronze mirrors. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. Mentioned: cat. no. 46, pp. 60, 107, 119. Reproduced: p. 60, and pl. 5, p. 19
    Delacour, Catherine. La Voie du Tao: un Autre Chemin de L'être : Galeries Nationales, Grand Palais, 29 Mars-5 Juillet 2010. Paris: Reunion des Musees Nationaux, 2010. Reproduced: p. 124, cat. 7.1
    Chung, Anita. Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: July 27, 2013-January 26, 2014, the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Reproduced: p. 22, fig. 5
  • Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17-November 26, 2000); China Institute in America, New York, NY (February 6-June 2, 2002); Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison, WI (December 20, 2003-February 29, 2004).
  • {{cite web|title=Mirror with Interlacing Floral Motifs and Twelve Zodiac Animals|url=false|author=|year=late 500s–early 600s|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.336