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Source Description
The design of this mirror consists of a central knob and a series of concentric circular bands. The innermost band contains an eight-word inscription, with phrasing typical of earlier mirrors found in the Sui and early Tang periods:<br><br><em>The mirror's light shows the man inside. May you live a long life and [constantly] renew yourself.<br><br></em>Floral branches interlace in the second band. The controlled undulation produces five segments. The third band is divided into twelve parts, which house the zodiac animals in the clockwise sequence: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog, and boar. A sunken ring of the well-known sawtooth design continues to be effective, before the undecorated rim sets the final enclosure.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
159146
label
Mirror with Interlacing Floral Motifs and Twelve Zodiac Animals
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
159146
contentType
object
title
Mirror with Interlacing Floral Motifs and Twelve Zodiac Animals
description
The design of this mirror consists of a central knob and a series of concentric circular bands. The innermost band contains an eight-word inscription, with phrasing typical of earlier mirrors found in the Sui and early Tang periods:<br><br><em>The mirror's light shows the man inside. May you live a long life and [constantly] renew yourself.<br><br></em>Floral branches interlace in the second band. The controlled undulation produces five segments. The third band is divided into twelve parts, which house the zodiac animals in the clockwise sequence: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog, and boar. A sunken ring of the well-known sawtooth design continues to be effective, before the undecorated rim sets the final enclosure.
date
late 500s–early 600s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79978297
genreSpecific
Metalwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 15.4 cm (6 1/16 in.); Overall: 1.4 cm (9/16 in.); Rim: 0.5 cm (3/16 in.)
cul
China, Sui dynasty (581-618)
accession
1995.336
Source extras
tec
bronze
tombstone
Mirror with Interlacing Floral Motifs and Twelve Zodiac Animals (纏枝花十二生肖鏡), late 500s–early 600s. China, Sui dynasty (581-618). Bronze; diameter: 15.4 cm (6 1/16 in.); overall: 1.4 cm (9/16 in.); rim: 0.5 cm (3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee, 1995.336
titleInOriginalLanguage
纏枝花十二生肖鏡
collection
China - Sui Dynasty
inscriptions
inscription
光正隨人，長命宜新。
inscription_translation
The mirror's light shows the man inside.
May you live a long life and [constantly]
renew yourself.
sortorder
1
citations
citation
Chou, Ju-hsi. <em>Circles of reflection: the Carter collection of Chinese bronze mirrors</em>. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned: cat. no. 46, pp. 60, 107, 119. Reproduced: p. 60, and pl. 5, p. 19
citation
Delacour, Catherine.<em> La Voie du Tao: un Autre Chemin de L'être : Galeries Nationales, Grand Palais, 29 Mars-5 Juillet 2010</em>. Paris: Reunion des Musees Nationaux, 2010.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 124, cat. 7.1
citation
Chung, Anita. <em>Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: July 27, 2013-January 26, 2014, the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 22, fig. 5
creditline
Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:14:34.616000
sourceId
159146
dept
Chinese Art
coll
China - Sui Dynasty
med
bronze
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
29a9397f70c9f778