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Source Description
The mirror features a pair of dragons poised to seize flaming pearls. Blossoms like lotus and chrysanthemum emerge among the dragons. Surrounding the central knob of the mirror is a square enclosing the characters "至元四年 (Fourth Year of Zhiyuan, 1338)." The square also encompasses a barely legible engraving which identifies the workshop in today’s Shanxi province: "White bronze mirror cast under the supervision of retainers from the house of Ma Gouyu in the prefecture of Hezhong."
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
159203
label
Mirror with Twin Dragons and Lotus Blossoms
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
159203
contentType
object
title
Mirror with Twin Dragons and Lotus Blossoms
description
The mirror features a pair of dragons poised to seize flaming pearls. Blossoms like lotus and chrysanthemum emerge among the dragons. Surrounding the central knob of the mirror is a square enclosing the characters "至元四年 (Fourth Year of Zhiyuan, 1338)." The square also encompasses a barely legible engraving which identifies the workshop in today’s Shanxi province: "White bronze mirror cast under the supervision of retainers from the house of Ma Gouyu in the prefecture of Hezhong."
date
1338
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60780973
genreSpecific
Metalwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 23.4 cm (9 3/16 in.); Overall: 1.1 cm (7/16 in.); Rim: 0.8 cm (5/16 in.)
cul
China, Shanxi province, Hezhong, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
accession
1995.388
Source extras
tec
bronze
tombstone
Mirror with Twin Dragons and Lotus Blossoms (雙龍荷花鏡), 1338. China, Shanxi province, Hezhong, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Bronze; diameter: 23.4 cm (9 3/16 in.); overall: 1.1 cm (7/16 in.); rim: 0.8 cm (5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee, 1995.388
titleInOriginalLanguage
雙龍荷花鏡
collection
China - Yuan Dynasty
inscriptions
inscription
河中府馬溝玉家自家門人監造白銅鏡
inscription_translation
White mirror cast under the supervision of retainers from the house of Ma Gouyu in the prefecture of Hezhong.
inscription
至元四年
inscription_translation
Fourth Year of Zhiyuan
didYouKnow
This intricate mirror was donated in honor of Sherman Lee, the museum's longest tenured director.
citations
citation
Chou, Ju-hsi. <em>Circles of reflection: the Carter collection of Chinese bronze mirrors</em>. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
Reproduced: cat. no. 87, pp. 92, 109, 125
creditline
Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:15:04.092000
sourceId
159203
dept
Chinese Art
coll
China - Yuan Dynasty
med
bronze
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
efa50cee781cc865