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Ritual mirror with two dragons chasing each other
- loan
-
Details
- Associated place
- Date
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8th century AD (AD 701 - 800)
Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 907)
20th century (1901 - 2000)
- Material and technique
- bronze, covered in black lacquer, and inlaid with mother-of-pearl with incised decoration; gold and silver painted decoration; silk tassel
- Dimensions
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with tassle 4 cm sight size (height)
21 cm (diameter)
- Material index
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processed material › metal › alloy › copper alloy › bronze,organic › animal › shell › pearlshell › mother-of-pearl,organic › animal › animal product › silk
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
- Accession no.
- LI1301.16
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Further reading
University of Sussex, and Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Barlow Collection, supervised by Regina Krahl, Maurice Howard, and Aiden Leeves (Sussex: University of Sussex, 2006), no. B18
Glossary
lacquer
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lacquer
Chinese and Japanese lacquer is made from the sap of the lacquer tree, which is indigenous to Eastern China. It is applied to wood as a varnish or for decorative effect. In India and the Middle East, lacquer is made from the deposit of the lac insect.
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
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The Barlow Collection
The flat circular mirror has a pierced boss on the back, now fitted with a silk tassel, raised on a circular field and surrounded by two dragons in relief. The dragons are depicted with long snouts, flowing manes and scaly bodies with hooked spine, pursuing each other and emitting flames. The surface was covered with black lacquer, now largely degraded, which was inlaid in mother-of-pearl with small circular pieces around the boss, and flowering pomegranate around the rim, with four sections separated by small dots. The shell shows incised details and is mostly preserved. The reflecting side of the mirror now partly covered by green patina. The two dragons have in modern times been overpainted in gold and silver, respectively.
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