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Mirror with Twin Dragons and Lotus Blossoms
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
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."
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMirror 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
