Mirror with 'Shan' (Mountain) Pattern
Unknown Artist
200s BCE
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
diam. 18 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Edward L. Whittemore Fund
Accession Number
1972.34
About this artwork
Chinese mirror-casting achieved new elegance and precision with the technical development of stamped clay molds over which molten bronze was poured. A small rectangular unit of design was repeatedly stamped to create this background of curls and granulation, which resembles feather-covered textiles known from early tomb finds. The dominant pattern of slanting "T," pressed down upon the mold after the overall background stamps, corresponds to the modern Chinese character for shan (山 or mountain)....