A reflection of China's ancient past at the Huntington

Fragments of embroidered silk cloth on display demonstrate how closely textile and mirror designs were related. Finely patterned background designs in bronze appear to echo the weave of textiles, a subtlety that can be discerned because the display cases allow visitors an intimate view of these exquisite little works of art.

“The cases were custom made for the exhibition,” Bailey said, “and they’re built so that you can get close to them. We also have interior lighting in the cases as well as exterior lighting to give visitors a chance to see the sculptural quality in the designs.”

And careful scrutiny is rewarded as tiny details emerge. Look carefully at the “Moon Mirror with Birds and Dragon” from the Tang Dynasty and within the mirror’s circle shape you’ll see a little moon inhabited by a rabbit stirring a pot under a leafy cinnamon tree. The pot contains “perhaps the elixir of life,” says the display label, and the rabbit “is an endearing allusion to popular legends of immortality.”

In a nearby case, a fragment of silk embroidered with a “Cloud Scroll and Rabbit in the Moon” further demonstrates the popularity of this motif.

Many of the mirrors bear inscriptions offering good wishes to the owners or pertaining to the artisans themselves. One maker’s translated inscription is a masterpiece of self-promotion:

“The Shangfang workshop made this mirror/Which is truly great and well crafted/On its surface are the immortals/Who do not know old age/When thirsty, they drink from jade springs/And when hungry they eat jujubes/Floating, they roam the world/And ramble everywhere within the surrounding seas/What pleasure!”

These eloquent remnants of a distant past (plus a few modern copies displayed for contrast) were collected by Lloyd Cotsen, a Los Angeles-based businessman, philanthropist and noted eclectic art collector, who began accumulating them while serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.

After their stay at the Huntington, the mirrors will go to the Shanghai Museum, designated as the collection’s new permanent home by Cotsen, who has previously donated other of his varied collections to such institutions as the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and Princeton University.