The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 29, 2023

Lobed Mirror with Heaven and Earth between the Paired Phoenixes

雙鳳上圓下方葵花鏡

mid to late 700s

China, Tang dynasty

(618-907)

Bronze

Diameter: 22.5 cm (8 7/8 in.); Overall: 1.1 cm (7/16 in.); Rim: 0.7 cm (1/4 in.)

Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee 1995.351

Location

239 Chinese Ceramics and Metalwork

Fun Fact

This mirror contains cosmological symbolism with heaven represented by a large circle at top and earth by a square at bottom.

Description

This mirror bears an important inscription as well as symbolic imagery of the Eight Trigrams and Heaven and Earth to express the ancient Chinese cosmological ideas. The inscription reads:
Circle above and square below:
These are symbolic of heaven and earth.
In the middle are the Eight Trigrams.
Making clear [the forces of] yin and yang.
Stars and constellations are well aligned;
The sun and the moon are virtuous and bright.
Circulating around [the earth] is water,
Giving identity to the Four Great Rivers.
Within are the mountain ranges,
To signify the lordly heights.

Inscriptions

Inscription

上圓下方，象于天地。 中列八填，備著陰陽。 辰星鎮定，日月貞明。 周流為水，以名四瀆。 內置連山，以旌王岳。

Inscription Translation

Circle above and square below: These are symbols of heaven and earth. In the middle are the Eight Trigrams, Making clear [the forces of] yin and yang. Stars and constellations are well aligned; The sun and the moon are virtuous and bright. Circulating around [the earth] is water, Giving identity to the Four Great Rivers. Within are the mountain ranges, To signify the lordly heights.

Provenance
-1995
Thomas and Martha Carter, Madison, WI, ?-1995, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1995-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1995-present
Citations
Chou, Ju-hsi. Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. Reproduced: cat. no. 69, pp. 75-76 and 121
Cahill, Suzanne E. "The Moon Stopping in the Void: Daoism and the LIterati Ideal in Mirrors of the Tang Dynasty." .Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 9 (2005): 24-41. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 38, fig.15 www.jstor.org
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: pp. 136-137, cat. 11.2
Exhibition history

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 Gallery, New York, NY (February 6-June 2, 2002); Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison, WI (December 20, 2003-February 29, 2004).

La voie du Tao, un autre chemin de l'Etre. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (March 29-July 5, 2010).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.351