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TLV Mirror with Four Spirits and Companions
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The back of this mirror shows a diagram of the universe. The concentric rings and swirling cloud band border represent heaven, while the square field around the knob designates the earth. The four directional spirits in the form of animals occupy the space between heaven and earth and are cast in fine lines between the band of swirling clouds and outside the square: the tiger guarding the west, the dragon protecting the east, the red bird representing the south, and the snake-entwined turtle guarding the north.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineTLV Mirror with Four Spirits and Companions (四神博局式青铜鏡), 9–100 CE. China, Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE). Bronze; diameter: 19 cm (7 1/2 in.); overall: 1.2 cm (1/2 in.); rim: 0.7 cm (1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Drs. Thomas and Martha Carter in Honor of Sherman E. Lee, 1995.301
