Collection record · Everyday wonders
TLV Mirror with Multiple Nipples
The collection record classifies this work as metalwork. It is dated 9–23 CE. Recorded culture or place: China, Xin dynasty (9–23 CE).
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- TLV Mirror with Multiple Nipples
- Date
- 9–23 CE
- Culture / origin
- China, Xin dynasty (9–23 CE)
- Materials and technique
- bronze
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 16.9 cm (6 5/8 in.); Overall: 1.1 cm (7/16 in.); Rim: 0.5 cm (3/16 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1995.298
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
The inscription in this mirror reads: A fine mirror it is, my making of it! I can show the ageless immortals up above. They wander over the earth and belittle the Four Oceans. They live as long as metal and stone, And are true protectors of our kingdom. These poetic lines suggest the reflective and magical qualities of the bronze mirror in the Chinese imagination. Besides reflecting the immortals, it illuminated the human soul so that it would be in tune with forces of yin and yang in Chinese cosmology.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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