Cotsen Institute of Archaeology

This two-volume set was edited by Lothar von Falkenhausen and authored by Suzanne E. Cahill with essays by K.E. Brashier, Charlotte Horlyck, Li Jaang, Guolong Lai, Colin Mackenzie, Li Min, David A. Scott, Lillian Lan-ying Tseng, and Hanmo Zhang.

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 E. 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 publication of this two-volume set preceded an exhibition of the mirrors at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens and the return of the collection to China in recognition of that country’s rightful cultural patrimony.