The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2024

Mirror with a Coiling Dragon

Mirror with a Coiling Dragon

700s
Diameter: 10.2 cm (4 in.); Overall: 1.1 cm (7/16 in.); Rim: 0.8 cm (5/16 in.)

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 Gallery, 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=25 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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