| Object Number | 22377 |
| Current Location | Collections Storage |
| Culture | Chinese |
| Provenience | China |
| Period | Jin Dynasty |
| Date Made | 1115 - 1234 CE |
| Section | Asian |
| Materials | Bronze |
| Inscription Language | Chinese Language | Chinese Language |
| Description | Chinese bronze mirror. Relatively late, though it borrows from Han mirror design in terms of ornament. The four characters read: 貴家富宗 (Gui jia fu zong): "May the family be noble and the lineage prosperous." It has the image of a coin embedded in the decoration, which bears the characters: 大定通寳 (Da ding tong bao). The mirror may be contemporary with the coin's date of issue or later. Coins with the legend Da ding tong bao were issued by the Jurchen Jin Dynasty between 1178 and 1189. Including images of coins in the decoration of bronze mirrors is highly unusual, but other examples of Jin mirrors with this coin type are known. This may reflect a Jin prohibition on the melting down of copper coins to produce other objects, or the subsequent relazation of that prohibition. |
| Credit Line | Purchased from Rev. Edward W. Thwing; subscription of Robert C. H. Brock, 1902 |
Report problems and issues to digitalmedia@pennmuseum.org.