China, Han Dynasty, ca. 206 BCE to 220 CE. A circular bronze mirror, cast in both low and high relief, with a perforated knob or boss through which a cord would have been threaded to make it easier to hold or carry, encircled by a beautiful scene in three registers, the uppermost depicting the so-called World-Bearing or Cosmic Turtle ("Ao") with a serpent-like head, supporting the universe in the form of a tree with the billowing celestial realm above. In China, the character used for both tortoises and turtles is ? gui, and the original form of the character is ? depicting a snake-like head. According to Chinese mythology, the shape of the turtle's shell symbolizes the earth with the flat ground beneath and the endless sky above. Notice the figures flanking the turtle. One myth claims that Ao continues to reside in the Bohai Sea and carries the three islands belonging to the Eight Immortals upon his back. Hence, these figures may represent these immortal beings. The two registers below feature animorphic visages with sinuous motifs possibly representing their hair or wing-like appendages, verdant foliage, cascading eddies of water, or billowing clouds. Surrounding these central registers is an encircling band of animorphic creatures and characters, perhaps signifying animal signs fo the Chinese zodiac. This is followed by a band of repeated linear marks and the outermost wide band of elegant sinuous stylized serpentine forms. Beyond this remarkable iconographic and decorative program, the bronze itself boasts a gorgeous green patina, and the lustrous and reflective polished, silvered verso is simply breathtaking. In addition to reflecting one's face, scholarship shows that the purpose of an ancient bronze mirror was to reflect one's heart and soul as well as to reflect the sun and ward off evil associated with darkness. According to Chinese cosmology, the central boss of the mirror was believed to represent the earth (center of the universe), quite fitting here as it underscores the Cosmic Turtle. The remarkable scenes surrounding the boss featuring the sacred turtle, human and animorphic forms, suggestions of foliage, waves and/or clouds - quite poignantly represents earth, sea, and sky when viewed together. A brilliant example. Size: 7.25" in diameter (18.4 cm)

Mirrors in ancient China served both practical and spiritual purposes. Bronze mirrors were also luxury goods that would have been expensive to produce and therefore to buy. When placed in a tomb upon the chest of the deceased, as they often were, they were meant to protect the dead from evil spirits, who were frightened of being seen in reflection. In a similarly symbolic move, women carried "marriage mirrors" on their laps during their wedding procession; these were later hung over the marriage bed to repel evil spirits.

Provenance: Ex-Private Ventura County, CA collection

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