An Unusual Bronze Mirror with Hinged Leg, Southern Song period, 13th century. Diameter: 14.3 cm. © 2024 Kaikodo

The mirror is circular with conjoined cabriole legs forming a base to stabilize the mirror when set at an angle, the mirror angled when the hinged leg of curved tubular form, attached to the back, swings out, the mirror then further balanced on the flattened paw-form foot of the extended leg. A wide raised band circles the perimeter of the back of the mirror framing a four-character inscription in raised ribbon relief reading zhang ling fu gui, “excellence, honor, good fortune, wealth.” The mirror is heavily encrusted in bright green patina with a smoother olive-green patina along part of the rim visible on one side. The obverse, or the reflecting side, is characteristically plain beneath substantial accretions of green and brown.

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