Inscribed Bronze Mirror 25. 寶相花紋銀銅鏡

25. Inscribed Bronze Mirror
寶相花紋銀銅鏡
Diameter: 12.7 cm. (5 in.)
Sui-early Tang dynasty
7th century A.D.
徑 12.7 厘米
隋·唐初期
The mirror is cast with a central pierced hemispherical knob that is enclosed by six finely
detailed, stylized, and formalized floral medallions with beaded edges divided by "candelabrashaped" motifs, all tightly fitting in the inner zone within saw-tooth and striated bands below
a sharp, raised border. A twenty-character inscription in clearly cast characters and a quatrefoil
emblem in relief surround the main decoration with a further striated border and demi-floret
band on the rim. The metal is shiny silver with areas lightly encrusted with green patina.
This type of mirror, known from both
private and public collections and reportedly
from archaeological sites in Kaifeng, Luoyang,
Xi’an and Yangzhou, is easily recognizable at first
glance by the six circular medallions arranged
in a ring around the knob, the presence of a
lengthy inscription cast within a narrow outer
band surrounding the main decor, and narrow
geometrically-patterned rim borders. One’s eye
wants to read the medallions as blossoms and
their arrangement as a well-balanced formalized
scroll. However, the medallions are unattached,
distinct entities. The medallion motif has been
likened in some minds to the large canopies
forming the ceiling decoration in Buddhist caves
in western China; the motif is also relatable to
repeat patterns appearing in textiles and the
medallions themselves have come to be referred to
as baoxianghua ("flowers of precious appearance")
and the motif often does appear in religious
contexts.1
Yet the inscriptions on these mirrors are far
more secular than religious; they are of this life, of
this world, sometimes reflecting a current event
and otherwise celebrating beauty, the beauty of the
mirrors themselves, their mysterious "moon"-like
quality, and the beauty of the individuals reflected
in them. The present inscription, consisting of a
four-line, five-character per line stanza, is precisely
like that on a mirror published by Jessica Rawson
and Emma Bunker and is a good representative
of the sentiments conveyed by these inscriptions
overall (fig. 1): "The f lowers bloom without
distinction of summer or winter; at the mirror
stand it shines day and night. It understands
especially the thoughts of the Qin pavilion. It
could reflect the made-up faces of beauties."2
Ru-hsi Chou translates the inscription on
one of these mirror in the Carter collection in
Cleveland, noting that its inscription appears
unique, not found on any other extant examples
to his knowledge: "[This mirror can unveil one’s]
gall; It can fathom the hidden and the subtle; Its
clarity and luster put the pearl to shame, and the
moon to pale; [Now] that the war has ended, let’s
celebrate the rising fortune at the wake."3
There is some variety in the impression
conveyed and the complexity of the medallion
design on these mirrors. For example, one in the
Shanghai Museum (fig. 2) along with the one
Fig. 1: Bronze
mirror with
medallions,
Sui-early Tang
dynasty, late 6thearly 7th century
A.D., after
Jessica Rawson
and Emma
Bunker, Ancient
Chinese and
Ordos Bronzes,
Hong Kong,
1990, pl. 178,
p. 259.
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Fig. 2: Bronze mirror with medallions, 7th
century A.D., Shanghai Museum, after Ancient
Bronze Mirrors from the Shanghai Museum,
Shanghai, 2005. pl. 71, p. 219.
cont. on p. 198
cont. of cat. 25: Inscribed Bronze Mirror
published by Rawson and Bunker above are rather
more intricately detailed than the Cleveland
mirror (fig. 3) where the medallions appear to
enclose multi-petaled chrysanthemum-like floral
motifs, while the present exists between the two
in complexity. The designers of these mirrors, one
and all, did arrive at a most elegant solution for
combining the beauty of poetry and compelling
design in an object both utilitarian and highly
decorative.
1. See Jessica Rawson and E. Bunker in Ancient
Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic
Society, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 258.
2. Ibid.
3. See Ju-hsi Chou, Circles of Reflection: The Carter
Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, Cleveland,
2000, p. 67.
Fig. 3: Bronze mirror with medallions, 7th century
A.D., Carter collection, Cleveland Museum of Art,
after Ju-hsi Chou, Circles of Reflection: The Carter
Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, Cleveland, 2000,
no. 57. p. 67.
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