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Lot Essay
A very similar mirror of comparable large size (29.3 cm.) is illustrated in Ancient Bronze Mirrors in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2005, pp. 224-5, no. 74, where it is noted that this type of mirror was typical of mirrors cast at Yangzhou during the Tang dynasty, and that some were excavated at Xi'an, Shaanxi province and from Tang dynasty tombs at Jiangchengbao, Baoji city. Another (28.8 cm.) is illustrated by Ju-hsi Chou, Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000, p. 75, no. 68.
Mirrors of this type may have been used in a woman's boudoir or would have been presented as a marriage gift, and the symbolic motifs that decorate this large mirror reinforce this use. The pair of phoenixes represents a married couple, and the phoenix also symbolizes the qualities of virtue, duty, correct behavior, reliability and humanity, all ideal attributes for a wife. The knotted cords that trail behind their heads are symbols of longevity. The pair of mandarin ducks symbolize conjugal fidelity and represent the strong love of a married couple. The tassels held in the beaks of the parakeets represent shou, the decorative knot from a woman's belt, which once tied can only be undone by her husband.
Mirrors of this type may have been used in a woman's boudoir or would have been presented as a marriage gift, and the symbolic motifs that decorate this large mirror reinforce this use. The pair of phoenixes represents a married couple, and the phoenix also symbolizes the qualities of virtue, duty, correct behavior, reliability and humanity, all ideal attributes for a wife. The knotted cords that trail behind their heads are symbols of longevity. The pair of mandarin ducks symbolize conjugal fidelity and represent the strong love of a married couple. The tassels held in the beaks of the parakeets represent shou, the decorative knot from a woman's belt, which once tied can only be undone by her husband.