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TLV Mirror with Multiple Nipples
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
TLV mirrors of the Han dynasty were named after the motifs resembling the letters T, L, and V. Their meaning relates to cosmology. A concentric band of characters around the central knob reads, Good copper of the current Xin dynasty was mined at Danyang. / Mixed with white tin, the alloy is clear and bright. . . . Danyang county in Jiangsu province was rich in metal resources. Mirrors mentioning Danyang were found in Zhejiang, Hubei, Henan, Hunan, and Shanxi provinces, which suggests their export beyond Jiangsu. Alternatively, competing mirror makers elsewhere could have used Danyang as an early type of branding.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineTLV Mirror with Multiple Nipples (多乳博局式鏡), 9–23 CE. China, Xin dynasty (9–23 CE). Bronze; diameter: 16.3 cm (6 7/16 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, 1995.295