{
"data": {
"id": 151213,
"accession_number": "1983.1111",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Mirror Stand, 1800s. Iran, Qajar period (1779-1925). Steel engraved and inlaid with gold and silver with openwork calligraphic design on hinged door; diameter: 25.5 cm (10 1/16 in.); overall: 52.5 cm (20 11/16 in.); diameter of base: 18.6 cm (7 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Mehmed A. Simsar in memory of Dr. Mehmed A. Simsar, 1983.1111",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Mirror Stand",
"creation_date": "1800s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1800,
"creation_date_latest": 1899,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Iran, Qajar period (1779-1925)"
],
"technique": "Steel engraved and inlaid with gold and silver with openwork calligraphic design on hinged door",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Islamic Art",
"collection": "Islamic Art",
"type": "Metalwork",
"measurements": "Diameter: 25.5 cm (10 1/16 in.); Overall: 52.5 cm (20 11/16 in.); Diameter of base: 18.6 cm (7 5/16 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"diameter": {
"width": 0.255,
"width_inch": 10,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.0625
},
"overall": {
"height": 0.525,
"height_inch": 20,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.6875
},
"diameter of base": {
"width": 0.186,
"width_inch": 7,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.3125
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": null,
"inscription_translation": "In the center: 1070 Safavi; Al-Sultan al-Sultan wa'l-Khaqan al-Khaqan Shah Soleyman Safavi",
"inscription_remark": "Door of the mirror case bears pierced inscription in nasta'liq. \"Khaqan\" is another name for a supreme ruler.",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"inscription": "Selection from the inscriptions in the surrounding ring: \u0646\u0647 \u0647\u0631 \u06a9\u0647 \u0686\u0647\u0631\u0647 \u0628\u0631\u0627\u0641\u0631\u0648\u062e\u062a \u062f\u0644\u0628\u0631\u06cc \u062f\u0627\u0646\u062f. \u0646\u0647 \u0647\u0631 \u06a9\u0647 \u0622\u06cc\u0646\u0647 \u0633\u0627\u0632\u062f \u0633\u06a9\u0646\u062f\u0631\u06cc \u062f\u0627\u0646\u062f",
"inscription_translation": "Not every one who makes up her face knows how to win hearts (be coquettishly a heart-stealer); Not everyone who makes a mirror knows the arts of an Alexander.",
"inscription_remark": "From the verses around the edge of the mirror's door. This one comes from a ghazal of Hafiz. The last line refers to the famous lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, with its mirror reflecting the sun.",
"sortorder": 2
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 294015,
"title": "Arts of Iran (Islamic art rotation)",
"description": "Arts of Iran (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 30, 2018-October 28, 2019).",
"opening_date": "2018-10-30T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Dr. Mehmed A. [1902\u20131981] and Mrs. Louise Dean Simsar [1900\u20131986], New York, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "c. 1943\u20131983",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1983\u2013",
"sortorder": 2
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": null,
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "The mirror was both a courtly accouterment and a popular poetic device in Persian literature. The central circular panel has a hinge and hook that opens to reveal the mirror. The texts in the ring are verses by different authors referring to mirrors. One says: Have they placed a mirror facing the sun at the door of that tent, Or is it the light rays shining from the forehead?
Such mirrors were popular during the Qajar period (1779\u20131925), but this example evokes the grandeur of the earlier Safavid period by inscribing in the center the name of Shah Sulayman (1648\u20131694) who, fittingly, spent most of his 28-year reign with women in the harem, where such mirrors would have been used.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60756219"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1983.1111-mirror-stand"
]
},
"citations": [],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1983.1111",
"images": {
"annotation": null,
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_web.jpg",
"width": "656",
"height": "893",
"filesize": "70806",
"filename": "1983.1111_web.jpg"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_print.jpg",
"width": "2499",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "926595",
"filename": "1983.1111_print.jpg"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_full.tif",
"width": "4690",
"height": "6379",
"filesize": "89792940",
"filename": "1983.1111_full.tif"
}
},
"alternate_images": [
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt0_web.jpg",
"width": "756",
"height": "893",
"filesize": "70133"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt0_print.jpg",
"width": "2879",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "1023400"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt0_full.tif",
"width": "5651",
"height": "6672",
"filesize": "113146460"
},
"date_created": "2013-01-21T19:30:12",
"annotation": ""
},
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt1_web.jpg",
"width": "658",
"height": "893",
"filesize": "41100"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt1_print.jpg",
"width": "2507",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "568334"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt1_full.tif",
"width": "4780",
"height": "6481",
"filesize": "92966376"
},
"date_created": "2013-01-21T20:05:25",
"annotation": ""
},
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt2_web.jpg",
"width": "669",
"height": "893",
"filesize": "42149"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt2_print.jpg",
"width": "2548",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "556002"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt2_full.tif",
"width": "4782",
"height": "6379",
"filesize": "91546592"
},
"date_created": "2013-01-21T20:07:40",
"annotation": ""
},
{
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt3_web.jpg",
"width": "696",
"height": "893",
"filesize": "61156"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt3_print.jpg",
"width": "2650",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "859445"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1983.1111/1983.1111_alt3_full.tif",
"width": "5072",
"height": "6506",
"filesize": "99028220"
},
"date_created": "2013-01-21T20:25:40",
"annotation": ""
}
],
"creditline": "Gift of Mrs. Mehmed A. Simsar in memory of Dr. Mehmed A. Simsar",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 151213,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1984-01-23T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1800,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "1800s",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "object",
"conservation_statement": null,
"has_conservation_images": false,
"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-05-29 07:48:29.021000"
}
}