{
"data": {
"id": 159182,
"accession_number": "1995.369",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Lobed Mirror with a Tortoise Knob, Musician, and Phoenix (\u771f\u5b50\u98db\u971c\u8475\u82b1\u93e1), late 700s. China, Tang dynasty (618-907). Bronze; diameter: 21.6 cm (8 1/2 in.); overall: 1.2 cm (1/2 in.); rim: 0.6 cm (1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee, 1995.369",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Lobed Mirror with a Tortoise Knob, Musician, and Phoenix",
"title_in_original_language": "\u771f\u5b50\u98db\u971c\u8475\u82b1\u93e1",
"creation_date": "late 700s",
"creation_date_earliest": 775,
"creation_date_latest": 799,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"China, Tang dynasty (618-907)"
],
"technique": "bronze",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Chinese Art",
"collection": "China - Tang Dynasty",
"type": "Metalwork",
"measurements": "Diameter: 21.6 cm (8 1/2 in.); Overall: 1.2 cm (1/2 in.); Rim: 0.6 cm (1/4 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"diameter": {
"width": 0.216
},
"overall": {
"height": 0.012
},
"rim": {
"height": 0.006
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "\u9cf3\u51f0\u96d9\u93e1\u5357\u91d1\u88dd\u3002\u9670\u967d\u5404\u70ba\u914d\uff0c\u65e5\u6708\u6052\u76f8\u6703\u3002\u767d\u7389\u8299\u84c9\u5323\uff0c\u7fe0\u7fbd\u74ca\u7464\u5e36\u3002\u540c\u5fc3\u4eba\uff0c\u5fc3\u76f8\u89aa\uff0c\u7167\u5fc3\u7167\u81bd\u4fdd\u5343\u6625\u3002",
"inscription_translation": "A mirror with paired phoenixes is cast from metals from the South.\nThe yin and yang are made to match;\nThe sun and moon meet with constancy.\nA white jade box with peony decor\nIs mated with a lustrous tassel of \nkingfisher feathers.\nThose of the same heart beat are drawn close.\nWhatever the mirror will reveal: be they hearts \nor gall;\nIt will surely protect you for a thousand springs.",
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": 1
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 193152,
"title": "Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors",
"description": "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).",
"opening_date": "2000-09-17T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 395234,
"title": "China\u2019s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta",
"description": "China\u2019s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10, 2023-January 7, 2024).",
"opening_date": "2023-09-10T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Thomas and Martha Carter, Madison, WI, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "?\u20131995",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1995\u2013",
"sortorder": 2
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "The imagery of this mirror includes a tiny turtle knob accompanied by a musician and phoenix.",
"description": "The inscription on this mirror states it was one of a pair made of metals from the south, and placed in a jade box, perhaps alluding to a wedding gift. The meaning of its design is not entirely known, but may refer to the Daoist immortal Hou Jin, who played the qin (stringed instrument), understood the language of birds, and could make predictions based on the reflections on water. The motifs of the phoenix, the pond, and the qin may all refer to the quest for immortality.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60740160"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1995.369-lobed-mirror-with-a"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Chou, Ju-hsi. Circles of reflection: the Carter collection of Chinese bronze mirrors. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 70, pp. 76\u201377, 109, 123",
"url": null
},
{
"citation": "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\u201367.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 56, fig. 12",
"url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/20079751"
},
{
"citation": "Griswold, William, Xiaofei Tian, Richard Von Glahn, Feng Zhao, S. J. Vainker, Masaaki Itakura, Jiang Wu, et al. China\u2019s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. Edited by Clarissa Von Spee. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 107, no. 15",
"url": ""
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1995.369",
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"creditline": "Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 159182,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1996-06-03T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 775,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "late 700s",
"collapse_artists": false,
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"alternate_titles": [
"Lobed Mirror with a Tortoise Knob, a Musician, and a Phoenix"
],
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"updated_at": "2026-03-27 00:02:00.237000"
}
}