Han-style Bronze Mirror Illustrated with Deities and Mythical Animals, Ming dynasty, 1368-1644-China Archive

Image Number: K1A002020N000000000PAB
Dynasty: Ming dynasty
Category: Bronzes
Function: Household appliance
Material: Mineral/Metal/Bronze
Description:
Round mirror, hemispherical button, round button holder. The main decoration area is the pattern of eight ring-shaped milk cubes with high relief immortals and auspicious animals popular in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. It is divided into four areas. The east prince is opposite to another missing relief god (usually the west queen mother), with auspicious animals on both sides. The other two areas are Boya playing the piano and the Yellow Emperor and waiters. There are eleven inscriptions on the outer ring of the main decorative area: “I am a mirror of the Ming Dynasty. My sons and grandchildren are prosperous and my teacher has a long life.” Each character is a semicircle drum shaped piece with a circular vortex pattern. The mirror edge has two layers, and the inner circle depicts the image of six dragons driving a cloud car, which is meticulous and dense. The outer ring is decorated with round vortex pattern and cloud pattern. This kind of high relief immortal auspicious animal mirror was popular from the late Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The immortals, supernatural animals and ideal scholars in the pictures are very dynamic, which fully shows the construction and yearning for the immortal world in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Just