An ancient bronze mirror with a Chinese coin design was recently unearthed from a Song Dynasty (960-1279) tomb according to a report from Qianjiang City (潜江), Hubei Province. The Qianjiang Cultural Relics Bureau (潜江文物局) announced that the mirror, which has some damage, was among the precious items found in a tomb located in Longwan Zhen [...]
Chinese mirrors
An outstanding private collection of ancient Chinese bronze mirrors owned by Lloyd Cotsen is being donated to the Shanghai Museum according to press releases issued in China and by The Huntington in San Marino, California. Lloyd Cotsen, a successful American entrepreneur and noted philanthropist, began collecting ancient Chinese mirrors in the 1950’s after being exposed [...]
Chinese bronze mirrors are usually circular with one side highly polished to provide a reflective surface and the other side decorated with an inscription and symbols. Simple undecorated bronze mirrors first appeared during neolithic times while the earliest decorated mirror, which was discovered in a tomb in Qinghai Province, dates to the Xia Dynasty (2100-1600 [...]