1-233-775 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Bronze mirror with scene of the lunar palace and supernatural animals, Tang dynasty, China, 8th century. A circular bronze mirror, the central boss of which is a toad. The main decoration is a tree with the moon goddess and a hare pounding the elixir of immortality above a mountain top. The four quarters in the outer band are cast with the four supernatural beings, namely, the Green Dragon, the White Tiger, the Scarlet Bird and the Dark Warrior (a tortoise in the coils of a snake), which symbolise the four quadrants of the world.