Press Release
ANCIENT CHINESE BRONZE MIRRORS TO BE EXHIBITED AT THE HUNTINGTON THIS FALL“Ancient Chinese Bronze Mirrors from the Lloyd Cotsen Collection” on public view for the first time Nov. 12, 2011–May 14, 2012 Press Preview: Thurs., Nov. 10, 2–4 p.m. Aug. 30, 2011 
Eight-lobed Mirror with Vines, Birds, and Mythical Animals, China, Tang dynasty (618–907).Cast bronze with silver amalgam. The Lloyd Cotsen Collection. Photograph by Bruce M. White, 2009. SAN MARINO, Calif.—An important collection of ancient Chinese bronze mirrors spanning 3,000 years will make its first public appearance this fall in an exhibition at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. “Ancient Chinese Bronze Mirrors from the Lloyd Cotsen Collection” will be on view from Nov. 12, 2011, through May 14, 2012, in the Chandler Wing of the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art. The exhibition will include some 80 highly decorative early bronze mirrors, ranging in date from the Qijia Culture (2100–1700 B.C.) of pre- and early Chinese history, the Warring States period (450-221 B.C.), and the Han (206 B.C.-220 A.D.), Tang (618–906 A.D.), and Jin (1115-1234 A.D.) dynasties. Several related textile fragments will also be displayed. The Lloyd Cotsen Collection was established by Lloyd Cotsen, a Los Angeles businessman, philanthropist, art collector, and member of The Huntington’s Board of Overseers. Cotsen purchased his first Chinese bronze mirrors in Hong Kong in the early 1950s while serving in the Navy during the Korean War. Today his collection contains thousands of pieces, including substantial assemblages of textiles, basketry and folk art. “The Huntington is a natural venue for this exhibition,” notes Steven Koblik, Huntington president. “Our Chinese garden—Liu Fang Yuan, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance—not only has attracted the active support of the local Chinese American community but also has helped introduce the beauty of Chinese culture to visitors of all backgrounds. Programmatic activities like this exhibition are an ideal educational opportunity.” Few things provide a clearer picture of an ancient civilization than the study of its material culture: the objects that individuals created, used, and valued. “From the earliest periods of China’s history, bronze mirrors have played a significant role in reflecting, both literally and symbolically, the face of the Chinese people,” says June Li, curator of the Chinese garden at The Huntington and organizer of the exhibition. In the exquisitely wrought designs and inscriptions that decorate the backs of these mirrors, centuries of craftsmanship, aesthetic taste, dynastic change, philosophy, and consumer culture are revealed.
Items of Luxury, Works of Art
As early as 2000 B.C., bronze technology was highly developed in China, and objects made from this alloy of copper, tin, and lead were considered luxury items, reserved for the aristocratic class. Among these coveted pieces were small bronze mirrors, some compact and portable enough to be held in one hand, and others large and heavy enough to require stands. Usually cast from clay molds, they were highly polished on one side, offering a reflective surface, while the other side was decorated with intricate patterns and designs that reveal an astonishing level of skill and artistry in their craftsmanship. Birds, dragons, and serpents were common motifs in the earliest mirrors. Later, more sophisticated and intricate designs included mythological figures, deities, animals of the Chinese zodiac, abstract patterns, background textures, inscriptions, enamelwork, and inlays of jade, turquoise, and mother-of-pearl. That these mirrors were prized by their owners is evident not only in light of their fine craftsmanship but also because of related artifacts that point to how they were valued. A pottery tomb figure dating to about the first century B.C. depicts a woman gazing into a mirror while applying powder to her face. An elaborate cosmetic set includes a bronze mirror from around the first century A.D., accompanied by a silk brocade pouch, a wool powder puff, and a lacquered wooden box. Artifacts such as these, along with the mirrors themselves, provide a fascinating glimpse into the private lives of their users.
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Cultural History Lessons
Yet mirrors also reflect the broad sweep of Chinese history—the rise and fall of dynasties, periods of war and peace, changing beliefs and values, and the influence of expanding commerce. As the Silk Road opened up trade routes to and from India, Persia, and Egypt, for example, new aesthetic elements borrowed from the West began to appear in Chinese design. Twisting grapevines, floral motifs, and intricate silver fretwork overlaid on bronze added exotic allure to these symbols of wealth and status. Silk fabrics of related periods echoed many of the designs and patterns seen in Chinese mirrors. Selected textile fragments from the Lloyd Cotsen Collection will provide additional social, historical, and cultural context for the bronzes, adding to the viewer’s appreciation of these exquisite artifacts of daily life in early China.
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Related BookThe exhibition is accompanied by The Lloyd Cotsen Study Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, a publication in two volumes edited by Lothar von Falkenhausen, scholar of art history and the archaeology of China at University of California, Los Angeles. Volume I (2009) is a fully illustrated catalog of the collection by Suzanne Cahill; Volume II (2011) contains essays by several noted historians. Both volumes are published by Cotsen Occasional Press/UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. The hardcover set ($450) is available at The Huntington’s Bookstore & More, bookstore@huntington.org or 626-405-2142. ^
Events & Related ProgrammingLecture: Suzanne Cahill, “Charts of the Cosmos: Chinese Bronze Mirrors and Textiles of the Warring States through the Tang Periods”Nov. 15 (Tuesday), 7:30 p.m. Friends' HallSuzanne Cahill, history professor at University of California, San Diego, will speak on two types of early Chinese material culture, bronze mirrors and silk textiles, drawing examples from the Cotsen collections. Cahill will read the designs on mirrors and textiles as templates that tell us what early Chinese elites believed was true and important, what they desired, and what they feared, and suggest that, over a long period of time, artisans producing works in two such apparently different media influenced each other’s designs. Lecture: Lothar von Falkenhausen, “The Introduction and Transformation of Mirrors in China”Feb. 7, 2012 (Tuesday), 7:30 p.m. Friends' HallLothar von Falkenhausen, scholar of art history and the archaeology of China at University of California, Los Angeles, speaks on the origin and geographic spread of Chinese bronze mirrors.
CONTACTS: Thea M. Page, 626-405-2260, tpage@huntington.org
Lisa Blackburn, 626-405-2140, lblackburn@huntington.org # # #
[EDITOR’S NOTE: High-resolution digital image available on request for publicity use.]
About The Huntington
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution serving scholars and the general public. More information about The Huntington can be found online at www.huntington.org.
Visitor informationThe Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, Calif., 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It is open to the public Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from noon to 4:30 p.m.; and Saturday, Sunday, and Monday holidays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Summer hours (Memorial Day through Labor Day) are 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed Tuesdays and major holidays. Admission on weekdays: $15 adults, $12 seniors (65+), $10 students (ages 12–18 or with full-time student I.D.), $6 youth (ages 5–11), free for children under 5. Group rate $11 per person for groups of 15 or more. Members are admitted free. Admission on weekends and Monday holidays: $20 adults, $15 seniors, $10 students, $6 youth, free for children under 5. Group rate $14 per person for groups of 15 or more. Members are admitted free. Admission is free to all visitors on the first Thursday of each month with advance tickets. Information: huntington.org or 626-405-2100. About the Lloyd Cotsen CollectionLloyd E. Cotsen is a philanthropist, art patron, and collector whose passion for “creativity in three dimensions” has resulted in extensive collections of textiles, basketry, and folk art. His textile collection, Textile Traces, is composed of approximately 5,000 fragments from nearly every corner of the world and encompasses almost the entire known history of textiles. This assemblage illustrates all aspects of the evolution of weaving, dying, and surface treatment techniques and includes pieces from Elizabethan England to Han dynasty China to contemporary North America. Other important collections assembled by Lloyd Cotsen, but gifted to U.S. institutions, include the Cotsen Collection of Japanese Bamboo Baskets (donated to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco), the Cotsen Contemporary American Basket Collection (donated to the Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin) and the Neutrogena Collection (donated to the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe). ^  |
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|  | Double-tier Mirror with Interlaced Dragons
China, Warring States period (450–221 BCE)
Cast bronze
The Cotsen Collection, O-0648 Photograph by Bruce M. White, 2009 |
| Square Double-tier Mirror with Four Opposed Birds
China, Warring States period (450–221 BCE)
Cast bronze
The Cotsen Collection, O-0424 Photograph by Bruce M. White, 2009 |
| Mirror with Riders and Figures in Landscape
China, Warring States period (450–221 BCE) to Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–8CE)
Cast bronze with lacquer and painted mineral pigments
The Cotsen Collection, O-0278Photograph by Bruce M. White, 2009
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| | Mirror with Quatrefoil, Grass Motifs, Stars, and Linked Arc
Inscribed
China, Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–8CE)
Cast bronze
The Cotsen Collection, O-0313Photograph by Bruce M. White, 2009
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| Mirror with Animals of the Four Directions and the Five Mountains
Inscribed
China, Sui dynasty (581–618) to Tang dynasty (618–907)
Cast bronze
The Cotsen Collection, O-0193 Photograph by Bruce M. White, 2009 |
| Eight-lobed Mirror with Vines, Birds, and Mythical Animals
China, Tang dynasty (618–907)
Cast bronze with silver amalgam
The Cotsen Collection, O-0792
Photograph by Bruce M. White, 2009
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|  | Two-part Mirror with Floral Pattern
China, Tang dynasty (618–907)
Cast bronze with gilt copper granulation and inlaid glass, turquoise, and pearl
The Cotsen Collection, O-0865 Photograph by Bruce M. White, 2009 |
| Flat Mirror with Interlaced Birds and Vines
China, Tang dynasty (618–907)
Cast bronze with adhered, cut and chased silver sheet
The Cotsen Collection, O-0879 Photograph by Bruce M. White, 2009
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| Square Mirror with Five Mountains, Birds, and Plants
China, Tang dynasty (618–907)
Cast bronze
The Cotsen Collection, O-0135 Photograph by Bruce M. White, 2009
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