1-233-778 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Bronze mirror with multi-armed Avalokitesvara and characters incised on its face, Yuan dynasty, China, 1271-1368. A circular bronze mirror with a flat surface and a raised plain rim. The space between the rim and the body is decorated with a band of stylised phoenixes in four pairs separated by studs or flower heads. A small raised character enclosed in a small medallion is cast on the head of one phoenix. The reflecting surface of the mirror is very unusual in being finely etched with Avalokitesvara with fourteen of his sixteen hands holding different ritual objects. The bodhisattva is surrounded by incised, outlined Tibetan characters.