Mirror

Mirror. Glossy mottled black and gray patina surface with malachite incrustations in sharply cut low relief. Box.

Historical period(s)
Western Han dynasty, 2nd century BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
Diam x D: 18.6 x 1 cm (7 5/16 x 3/8 in)
Geography
China
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1935.13
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Metalwork, Mirror
Type

Mirror

Keywords
China, qin, Western Han dynasty (206 BCE - 9 CE)
Provenance

From at least 1934 to 1935
C. T. Loo, Paris from at least 1934 [1]

From 1935
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company, New York on March 23, 1935 [2]

Notes:

[1] Olov Jansen, "Le style du Houai et ses affinités; notes à propos de quelques objects de la collection David-Weill," Revue des Arts Asiatiques: Annales du Musée Guimet vol. 8, no. 3 (1934), pp. 146, 180, pl. 57, listed as "Collection C. T. Loo, Paris."

[2] See C. T. Loo's invoice dated March 23, 1935, copy in object file. The invoice was issued by C. T. Loo's New York gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

C.T. Loo & Company 1914-1948

Description

Mirror. Glossy mottled black and gray patina surface with malachite incrustations in sharply cut low relief. Box.

Published References
  • Anneliese Bulling. The Decoration of Mirrors of the Han Period: A Chronology. no. 20 Ascona, Switzerland. .
  • Henri Maspero. Legends Mythologiques dans les Chou Jing (Shu Jing). vol. 204 Paris. .
  • William Watson. The Art of Dynastic China. New York, 1981. ill. 288.
  • Sueji Umehara. Kan izen no kokyo no kenkyu [L'Etude sur le Miroir Anterieur a la Dynastie des Han]. Kyoto. vol. 6: pp. 7-8, 27-32, pl. 30, fig. 2.
  • Michael Sullivan. On the Origin of Landscape Representation in Chinese Art. vol. 7 Honolulu. opp. p. 57, fig. 21.
  • Smithsonian Institution. Report of the Secretary, 1935. Washington, 1935-1936. pl. 2.
  • Smithsonian Institution. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 1935. Washington, 1935-1936. appendix 3, pl. 2.
  • Shou-Chien Shih. Eremitism in Landscape Paintings by Chien Hsuan (ca. 1235-before 1307). Ann Arbor. fig. 1.
  • Hai wai i chen [Chinese Art in Overseas Collections]. Taipei, 1985. vol. 2: p. 200.
  • Chugoku bijutsu [Chinese Art in Western Collections]. 5 vols., Tokyo, 1972-1973. vol. 4: pl. 81.
  • Bernhard Karlgren. Early Chinese Mirror Inscriptions. vol. 6 Stockholm. p. 26.
  • Jenny F. So. Music in the Age of Confucius. Exh. cat. Washington and Seattle. p. 31, fig. 1.13.
  • Compiled by the staff of the Freer Gallery of Art. A Descriptive and Illustrative Catalogue of Chinese Bronzes: Acquired During the Administration of John Ellerton Lodge. Oriental Studies Series, no. 3 Washington, 1946. p. 37, pl. 68.
  • Michele Pirazzoli-t'Serstevens. The Han Dynasty. New York. p. 73.
  • Ingrid Furniss. Music in Ancient China: An Archaeological and Art Historical Study of Strings, Winds, and Drums During the Eastern Zhou and Han Periods (770 BCE-220 CE). Amherst, New York. p. 86.
  • Bernhard Karlgren. Huai and Han. no. 13 Stockholm. p. 92, pl. 56, fig. 17.
  • Olov Jansen. Le Style du Houai et ses Affinites: Notes a Propos de quelques objects de la collection David-Weill. vol. 8, no. 3 Paris. pp. 146, 180, pl. 57.
  • Anneliese Bulling. The Decoration of Chinese Art from Neolithic Pottery to Modern Architecture. New York. p. 163.
  • William Willetts. Foundations of Chinese Art from Neolithic Pottery to Modern Architecture. New York, 1965. p. 163.
  • Alexander Coburn Soper. Life Motion and the Sense of Space in Early Chinese Representational Art. vol. 30, no. 3 New York. pp. 170-173, fig. 1.
  • Sueji Umehara. Shina kokogaku ronko [Studies in Chinese Archaeology]. Showa 13 Tokyo, 1938-1940. p. 254.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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