Skip to main content

Mirror: O.16-1984

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 29 - Korean Gallery

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Mirror with a ship at sea. Bronze. This circular mirror has a raised rim and a central knob. It is decorated with a ship at sea with figures watching as a dragon in a cloud confronts them, fishes emerging from waves, and the sun with the three-legged crow and the moon with a cassia tree (the hare beneath the tree is now missing) in clouds above. An inscription in four seal characters, enclosed in a cartouche is written at the top. The bronze is thick and has a green patination.

Notes

History note: Unknown before donor

Legal notes

Gompertz Gift

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1984-07-23) by Gompertz, G. St. G. M., Mr and Mrs

Dating

Koryo Dynasty
12th Century
13th Century
Circa 1100 - 1300

Note

There are suggestions that such mirrors were made to protect sea travellers.Mirrors of this type have repeatedly excavated from Korean tombs.

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Mirror composed of bronze Diameter 24.0 cm Height 1.7 cm

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.16-1984
Primary reference Number: 16567
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 3 March 2020 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Mirror" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/16567 Accessed: 2024-11-05 08:04:20

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/16567 |title=Mirror |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-05 08:04:20|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-16567

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...