Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Seattle Art Museum (SAM)
menu
Skip Navigation Linksvisit

Marriage Mirror

Marriage Mirror

8th century

Chinese

The traditional medium of bronze continued to be used for making mirrors. The miniature mirror (45.34) still retains much of its original luster, attesting to the superb craftsmanship. Foreign influence is apparent on another mirror (51.107) in its novel eight-lobed shape, which was based on a botanical form. The marriage mirror 45.32) would be used in the wedding ceremony as a protective charm for conjugal happiness, as symbolized by the auspicious animals and plants, some shown in pairs or entwined. The motif in the center of the marriage mirror is a diagrammatical representation of the Five Sacred Mountains, with the knob appearing as the central mountain. Auspicious clouds, alternating with four more good omens, rise above them.
Bronze
1/4 in. (0.6 cm)
Diam.: 7 15/16 in.
Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection
45.32
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Timeless Grandeur: Art from China"
April 25, 2002 - June 12, 2005

Champaign, Illinois, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, "Sacred Mountains In Chinese Art", November 9 - December 16, 1990, 11/9/90 - 12/16/90; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1/25/91 - 3/31/91 (11/09/1990 - 03/31/1991)

Los Angeles County Museum, "Arts of T'ang Dynasty," (1957)
Published References"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 59 (b&w)

Cammann, Schuyler. "Significant Patterns on Chinese Bronze Mirrors," in Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, Vol. 9 (1955), pp. 43-62, fig 13 p. 61

Los Angeles County Museum, "Arts of T'ang Dynasty," cat., (1957), p. 66 (137)

Gyllensvard, Bo. "T'ang Gold & Silver," in Bulletin no. 29 of the Mus., Far East Antiquities (1957), pp. 182, 183, 225; fig. 99 (f)

Wright, A. F. and Changan, "The T'ang City," in CITIES OF DESTINY, Arnold Toynbee. 1967.

Christie, Anthony. "Chinese Mythology." London: Hamlyn, 1968. p. 52, illus.

Ronan, Colin A. "The Cambridge Illustrated History of the World's Science," Cambridge University Press, Newnes Books, 1983. Illus p. 157

Munakata, Kiyohiko. "Sacred Mountains in Chinese Art," Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1991. p. 99: 44

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM