Mirrors

Mirror with Well-wishing Inscription
Western Han dynasty (206 BCE – 9 CE)
XLIX:I:E.11.

This mirror still retains its silver sheen. It contains an inscription that can be translated as: “May you have delight every day, may you always be prominent and rich, may you enjoy freedom from misfortune.” Moving outward from the inscription, there are what can be considered wing-like designs in between leaf-like designs. It is possible that the wing-like designs represent winged immortals that are so prominent in Han dynasty mirror decoration and other art forms. The outer register have inverted lobes, giving the appearance of radiating light.

Mirror with Liubo Design
Eastern Han dynasty, 1st century
E.17

The design of this mirror is based on an ancient board game called liubo. Although the rules deeper meaning of the game are no longer known, its earliest depictions are associated with immortals. In the West, this design has been called TLV due the geometric patterns that look similar to those letters.

Within the square in the centre, there are a set of Chinese characters called the “earthly branches,” which can represent time, with one day broken up into twelve segments, two hours per segment. Outside of the square, within the “TLV” field, there are mythological animals, four of which are directional animals: Green Dragon of the East, Vermilion Bird of the South, White Tiger of the West and Dark Warrior (composed of a snake wrapped around a tortoise) of the North.

An inscription around the mirror outside of the field with mythical animals indicates that this mirror was made by Shangfang, the office responsible for the imperial workshops. It also wishes the owner numerous sons and grandsons, as well as prosperity. That is followed by a thin band of vertical lines and then a band of triangular patterns that give the impression of light rays. The outermost register contains abstract cloud motifs.