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Mirror with Deities and Animals Surrounded by Rings of Squares and Semicircles
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Inscription: I made this bright mirror, By refining three metals. It is fitting for immortals, distant from the worldlings, And for those who are in command of virtues and the Way. Here too we will find respect for the wise and the able. They can be engraved in infinite ways. Here is BoYa playing the music. A multitude of fortunes underscore the yang force. The mirror shines brightly on the world. May you live long as the metal and stone. May you reach the height of dukedom. Even this master be given to live a long life.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMirror with Deities and Animals Surrounded by Rings of Squares and Semicircles (半圓方枚環繞式神獸鏡), late 100s CE. China, Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE). Bronze; diameter: 15 cm (5 7/8 in.); overall: 1.3 cm (1/2 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, 1995.333
