Mirror with Phoenixes, Birds, Butterflies, and Floral Sprays, 700, Cleveland Museum of Art: Chinese
Mirror with Phoenixes, Birds, Butterflies, and Floral Sprays, 700, Cleveland Museum of Art: Chinese ArtThis extremely rare pingtuo mirror is coated with a lacquer base inlaid with silver and gold. The decorative patterns, especially the floral arabesques and the phoenixes and birds holding branches in their mouths, have a pronounced Persian and Central Asian flavor. Luxury items like this had been used by the Tang emperor as an imperial gift. A similar example from the Japanese imperial collection of Emperor Shōmu was donated by Empress Kōmyō to the Shōsō-in repository of the Tōdai-ji Temple, Nara, in 756.Size: Diameter: 19.2 cm (7 9/16 in.)Medium: bronze with silver and gold inlaid lacquer https://clevelandart.org/art/1973.74 -- source link
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