Mirror with dragons

Object Details

• Description

  Mirror. Dull brown surface with areas of green aerugo and earthy incrustation. Decoration in gold and silver inlay.

• Provenance

  From at least 1933 to 1936

  C. T. Loo & Company, Paris from at least January 1933 [1]

  From 1936

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from C. T. Loo & Company, Paris and New York on March 3, 1936 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Umehara Sueji, "Hosokawa koshaku-ke zo kin-gin-saku shuryo monkyo" (An Inlaid Bronze Mirror in Marquis Hosokawa's Collection), Bijutsu kenkyu no. 13 (January 1933), p. 5, pl. 3, listed as owned by C. T. Loo, Paris.

  [2] See C. T. Loo's invoice dated March 3, 1936, copy in object file. The mirror was included on a "List of objects owned by C. T. Loo, New York and [sent to] the Gallery for examination, December 1934."

  The invoice was issued by C. T. Loo's Paris gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Chinese Art (February 18, 1983 to April 1, 1987)

  Chinese Art (March 15, 1982 to June 15, 1982)

  Chinese Art of the Warring States Period: Change and Community, 480-222 B.C. (September 30, 1982 to February 17, 1983)

  Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)

  Chinese Bronze, Jade, Metalwork (March 1, 1957 to January 1, 1963)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 14 and 15 (February 25, 1956 to March 1, 1957)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork and Painting, East Corridor (February 15, 1955 to August 26, 1955)

  Special Mirror Exhibition (November 16, 1954 to February 25, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1946 (May 7, 1946 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1944 (November 15, 1944 to May 6, 1946)

  Untitled Exhibition, Ancient Chinese Art, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to November 17, 1944)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Metalwork (March 14, 1931 to March 22, 1943)

  Stone Sculpture, Buddhist Bronze, and Chinese Painting (May 2, 1923 to February 25, 1956)

• Previous custodian or owner

  C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Mirror

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 0s

• Name

  C.T. Loo & Company

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Bronze, Art, Inlay (process), Sculpture, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 - 221 BCE), Chinese Art, Metal-work

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Mirrors