# Mirror with Dragon Arabesques

- By: China (probably from Hunan province)
- Date: Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period or early Western Han dynasty, 3rd/2nd century B.C.
- Medium: Bronze
- Classification: Metalwork
- Dimensions: Diam.: 16 cm (6 5/16 in.); Thickness: D.: 0.5 cm (3/8 in.)
- Culture: China
- Credit line: Samuel M. Nickerson Endowment
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/86759)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/f94fbd86-ca42-6d17-2308-614601dbe051/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The mirror in ancient China, usually held by hand with a cord, was a thin bronze disk with one face polished to a reflective sheen. The backs of mirrors were cast with elegant and dynamic designs. Tight spirals and triangles that form the ground pattern of this mirror are distinctive to south-central and southern China. These fanciful configurations seem to have been inspired by painted lacquers and embroidered and woven textiles distinctive to that area, which was occupied by the Kingdom of Chu.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0