1-234-623 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Bronze mirror, Late Western Han dynasty/Wang Meng interregnum, China, 206 BC-25 AD. A circular bronze mirror decorated with various bands of bosses, characters, zodiac signs, animals of the 4 quadrants, spirit figures, birds and the TLV pattern with the central cord attachment boss placed on a circle within a square. There is also an outermost band of clobbered scroll decoration. The name TLV is derived from the inclusion in the design of three decorative plain concave motifs in the shapes of a 'T' 'L' and 'V' respectively.