A fine and unusually large bronze mirror, the back is well cast with a knop in the form of a crouching beast, surrounded by lotus petal lappets. The inner frieze depicts three pairs of confronting muscular lions, together with smaller animals, on a swirling ground enclosed by a sawtooth border around which runs a 32-character inscription. The outer frieze has groups of running animals interspersed with birds; the raised scrolling border is separated by a further band of sawtooth pattern. The bronze has a silvery surface with green encrustation.

Sui or Tang dynasty
Diameter: 9 1/2”, 24.2 cm

It is rare to find mirrors of this exceptional size and quality.

For related examples, see Daily Life of Aristocrats in Tang China, no. 25, p. 64; White and Bunker, Adornment for Eternity: Status and Rank in Chinese Ornament, no. 56, p. 143; and Huang, Ancient Bronze Mirrors in the National Museum of History, pp. 116-7.