MID WESTERN HAN DYNASTY, 2ND CENTURY BC

Mirrors of this type are known as 'cloud and nebulae' mirrors because of the type of decoration - clusters of nipples connected by scrolls, which may represent clouds. Compare the mirror of this type illustrated in Ancient Bronze Mirrors from the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2005, pp. 132-3, no. 30. (Fig. 1) Another mirror of this type in the Sumitomo Collection, is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Chinese Bronze Mirrors, Sen-Oku Hakuko Kan, Kyoto, 8 January - 6 March 2011, no. 23. See, also, the similar mirror illustrated by J. Rawson and E. Bunker, Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, Oriental Ceramic Society, Hong Kong, 1990, no. 161, where the authors note that mirrors of this type were common in China and have been found in various provinces including Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hunan and Jiangsu.