The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 20, 2026

A dark gray bronze mirror, polished to a metallic sheen, features a scaly dragon coiling around a central spherical knob. The dragon's head has a long snout and two horns, while four legs with three-toed claws reach toward the rim. Detailed scales and stylized, curling cloud forms are rendered in raised relief. The surface displays silver highlights against the dark, reflective metal, emphasizing the intricate textures of the creature.

Mirror with a Coiling Dragon

700s

China, Tang dynasty

(618-907)
bronze
Diameter: 10.2 cm (4 in.); Overall: 1.1 cm (7/16 in.); Rim: 0.8 cm (5/16 in.)
Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee 1995.367
Location: 239 Chinese Ceramics and Metalwork

Did You Know?

The patina of this mirror is known as heiqigu (literally, “black lacquer antique”).

Description

Cast in high-tin and low-lead bronze by the lost wax method, this mirror has a dark and lustrous patina known as heiqigu (literally, “black lacquer antique”). It bears a design of a coiling dragon among trailing clouds. With a small, elongated head connecting to an S-curve of the neck that is as sinuous as the body and tail, the dragon of the Tang period is unique.
  • Thomas and Martha Carter, Madison, WI, given to 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, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. Reproduced: cat. no. 72, pp. 78, 109, 123
    Wang, Eugene Y. "Mirror, Moon, and Memory in Eighth-Century China: From Dragon Pond to Lunar Palace." Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 9 (2005): 42-67. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 43, fig. 2 www.jstor.org
    Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. Accumulating Culture: The Collections of Emperor Huizong. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008. Reproduced: p. 194, fig. 6.33
    Quette, Béatrice. Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2011. Reproduced: p. 132, fig. 7.3
  • 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 a Coiling Dragon|url=false|author=|year=700s|access-date=20 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.367