At present, the earliest bronze mirror found in archaeology is the Qi family culture tomb about 4,000 years ago.
In ancient times, the use of bronze mirrors was not only a tool for dressing up, but also a symbol of love and a symbol of auspiciousness!
Go to the museum, there is such a doubt, almost all the bronze mirrors only show the back, not let the front look.
So some people speculate that most of the bronze mirrors displayed in the museum are excavated from ancient tombs, mostly for evil mirrors, funeral mirrors, feng shui mirrors, and it is very unlucky to use this kind of mirror to illuminate people. For example, Jia Rui in the dream of the Red Chamber is because he took a picture of the front of the Wind moon treasure mirror and died.
The bronze mirror is only exhibited on the back, for the simple reason that the front is ugly!
The main function of bronze mirrors is that the ancients used to look at the face and make up. At that time, the front of the bronze mirror was polished very brightly, although it was not as clear as the glass mirror and the crystal mirror, but the basic appearance could still be seen.
We all know that the main material of bronze mirrors is metal copper, and the copper mirrors in ancient tombs will often react with oxygen in ancient tombs due to their perennial deep burial in the ground, resulting in black substances such as copper oxide. This directly led to the fact that after many copper mirrors were unearthed, their fronts were covered with black spots.
Therefore, the front of the bronze mirror will no longer be flat and smooth, and the reflectivity is also very poor. It can be said that it is not very good to "get on the table".
At this point, its appreciation value and research value are greatly reduced, so that's why the museum doesn't show its positives.
In addition, most of the fronts of the bronze mirrors are the same, and there is basically no pattern. The back of it is wonderful, with various patterns, and even relief images such as songs and dances, cars and horses, historical figures and legends.
The most famous should be the Tang Dynasty's Ruibea grape pattern copper mirror, which uses a dragon button and a bead pattern to divide the ornament into two areas: inside and outside. The inner area is the main ornamental area, and the beasts are shaped by high relief craftsmanship, they are jumping, lying down, creeping, and playing.
At that time, the craftsmen made the shape of the beast very graphic and exquisite. Not only did it shape its fat and full body shape, but it also shaped its healthy, lively, alert, and full of vitality. What's even more surprising is that no matter from which angle you look at it, you will see that the eyes of each beast are staring at you with great energy.