Rare Metal Mirror of the Jurchen Time From Tuva

The article presents the publication and diverse interpretation of a fragment of a rare metal mirror from the collection of the National Museum of the Republic of Tyva (Kyzyl city). The attribution of the composition, placed in the preserved part of the ornamental field of the mirror, required an appeal to the extensive collections of Chinese objects reflected in catalogs and special literature. It is established that the product belongs to a rare group of finds depicting the scene of the conversation “Xu Yu and Chao Fu” — a plot known since the Han Dynasty. An examination of the features of casting, the design of the rim, and the stylistics of the images of the published mirror shows that the manufacture of this item can be attributed to the period of the non-Chinese Jin Dynasty (1115–1234 AD). The significance of the fragment in the system of similar objects found on the territory of Tuva was determined by a review of known finds. The published fragment, the production of which dates back to the Jurchen time, demonstrates the latest period in the distribution of such objects in Tuva. It is important that the product shows a very rare specimen of a mirror, full analogies of which are absent not only in the designated region, but also, as far as we know, have not yet been identified in the sites of North and Central Asia. Keywords: metal mirror, Tuva, museum collections, China, Jurchen time, interpretation Acknowledgements: The study was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Ministry of Culture, Education, Science and Sports of Mongolia within the framework of the scientific project No. 19–59–44013 “Historical, Сultural and Ehnogenetic Processes in Mongolia during the Great Migration and the Early Middle Ages: an Interdisciplinary Analysis of Archaeological and Written Sources”.