Mirror with felines
date: label: Date
content: 581-618
label: Period
content: Sui dynasty
notes: label: Description
content: Mirror. Surface: bright silvery patina with patches of green aerugo and earthy incrustation. Decoration: in relief, with additions of green and red color in central medallion. Inscription.
label: Inscriptions
content: 36-character inscription, in Chinese:
label: Inscriptions
content: The simurgh startled as her reflection becomes visible; the sun's dazzling radiance opens up.
label: Inscriptions
content: Coiled (as it is), (I suspect a jade disk (pi) revolving; moon (like), it resembles a wheel returning.
label: Inscriptions
content: Coiled (as it is), (I suspect a jade disk (pi) revolving; moon (like), it resembles a wheel returning.
label: Label
content: The bronze has the bright silvery color associated with Sui and Tang mirrors. The inscription is a poem of thirty-six graphs, a rhymed riddle for which the answer is "mirror." It praises the mirror for its beauty, compares it to the moon, and refers to the legendary mirror of the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, which exposed unfaithful concubines. The content of the inscription shows the increase of secular subjects on mirrors of the Sui and Tang.
label: Provenance
content: 1930
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka and Company, New York 1930 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1930
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Yamanaka and Company, New York in 1930 [2]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Object file, undated folder sheet. Also see Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Personal Luxuries in Early China (July 7, 1998 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (February 18, 1983 to April 1, 1987)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinese Bronze, Jade, Metalwork (March 1, 1957 to January 1, 1963)
label: Exhibition History
content: Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 14 and 15 (February 25, 1956 to March 1, 1957)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork and Painting, East Corridor (February 15, 1955 to August 26, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Special Mirror Exhibition (November 16, 1954 to February 25, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1946 (May 7, 1946 to February 25, 1956)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork, Pottery, and Painting (March 23, 1944 to May 2, 1946)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1944 (November 15, 1944 to May 6, 1946)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Metalwork, 1943 (October 4, 1943 to March 23, 1944)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork (March 14, 1931 to March 22, 1943)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Shahnama and Chinese Art (March 24, 1930 to May 5, 1933)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: casting
label: Topic
content: metal
label: Topic
content: bronze
label: Topic
content: Sui dynasty (581 - 618)
label: Topic
content: cat
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1930.37
objectType: label: Type
content: Mirror
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Bronze
label: Dimensions
content: Diam x D: 19.3 x 1.5 cm (7 5/8 x 9/16 in)