Magic Mirror of Abu-l-Fadl Artuq Shah (r. 1225?–34). Mirror, cast bronze, Eastern Anatolia, Turkey, 600 or 660 H = 1204 or 1262. H at rim: 0.8; Diam: 24 cm, Inv. no. 4/1996 © The David Collection, Copenhagen

This large and exceptionally heavy bronze mirror was intended for the Artuqid ruler Abu-l-Fadl Artuq Shah of Harput (eastern Turkey). It was used for catoptromancy, that is, to divine and control the future through the twelve signs of the zodiac and the planets. The bird of prey at the center represents either the might of kingship, the ruler himself, or the sun, if not all three simultaneously controlling the earth and the cosmos from the center of the universe.