Book Description

The Lloyd Cotsen Study Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors is a co-publication of the Cotsen Occasional Press and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. Volume I, The Lloyd Cotsen Study Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors: Catalogue, includes an engaging foreword by Lloyd Cotsen, an overview of major Chinese dynasties and periods, and a brief history of Chinese bronze mirrors by Suzanne Cahill. This volume presents a detailed catalogue of the extensive Cotsen Collection through high-quality images and illustrations of the mirrors in their approximate chronological sequence. Volume II, a set of eleven scholarly essays, goes further to investigate these mirrors as a study collection. Guided by the conviction that this particular constellation of mirrors may lead to substantive insights that cannot easily be obtained otherwise, the leading scholars who contributed to this volume used the materials in Volume I as a point of departure for explorations of topics of their own choice. The resulting diversity of the chapters is notablewith coverage ranging from a discussion of Han mirror inscriptions as modular texts to an analysis of mirrors inlaid with mother of pearland the findings are as novel and stimulating as they are preliminary.