Magic mirrors are known to date back to the fifth century AD, but it wasn't until 1932 that Western scientists figured out how they worked. 

What exactly is a magic mirror? On the back you will find cast bronze designs pictures, characters or both. The reflecting side is convex, bright, shiny bronze that serves as a mirror. In many conditions, when held in the hand, it appears to be a perfectly normal mirror. 

However, when held in bright sunlight, the mirror reflecting surface can be seen through, making it possible to inspect the design on the back from a reflection cast on to a dark wall. Somehow, the solid bronze becomes transparent, leading the Chinese name "light-penetration mirrors." 

Experts who have puzzled over the mystery of magic mirrors believe that the ancients who made them must indeed have had some special art. The theory is that at the time the mirror was cast, the thinner part cools first, while the raised part of the design on the back, being thicker, becomes cold later. This caused the bronze to form minute wrinkles and although the characters are on the back, the face has lines so faint that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. 

Stop by our showroom to experience this mystery of China firsthand. 

The dragon and the phoenix are the principal motifs for decorative designs on buildings, clothing and articles for daily use in China's Imperial Palace. 

The throne hall, for example, is supported by columns with gilded dragons, while the central ramps on marble steps were paved with huge slabs carved in relief with the dragon and phoenix. Screen walls display dragons in brilliant colors. 

In the Chinese language, nearly all things connected with the emperor or dragon or phoenix preceded empress. Dragon seat described the throne, the emperor ceremonial dress was the Dragon robe; and he slept on a Dragon bed. The Phoenix carriage and Phoenix canopies were prominent in Imperial processions. 

The national flag under the Ching dynasty was emblazoned with a huge dragon and China's earliest postage stamps were called Dragonheads because their main design feature was a dragon. 

Prehistoric Roots 
Belief in the dragon, as well as drawings of the imaginary animal, can be traced back to primitive society when certain prehistoric tribes in China adopted the dragon as their symbol and guardian god. Some of the recently unearthed bronze vessels from the Yin Dynasty, which existed more than 3,000 years ago, are decorated with crude sketches of dragons. 

Early Chinese legends describe dragons as miraculous animals with fish scales and long beards. As time went on, the legends were embellished in the minds of the people and the dragon acquired the antlers of the deer, the mane of the horse and the claws of the eagle until it evolved to the representation we see today. 

The Chinese phoenix also originated in ancient legends and fairy tales. Sovereign of all birds, it has the head of the golden pheasant, the beak of the parrot, the body of the  mandarin duck, and the feathers of the peacock and the legs of the crane. Gloriously beautiful, it reigns over the feathered world. An early design of the phoenix can be seen on a silk painting discovered near Changsha in Hunan Province in a tomb from the Warring States Period, 475-221 B.C.

Still Popular and Virtuous 
The dragon and phoenix often served as metaphors for people of high virtue in classical art and literature today, the dragon is frequently used as the symbol for Chinese exhibitions and used on the covers of books printed by foreign publishers. You will see both the dragon and phoenix featured prominently in all manner of art in our showroom, including paintings, pottery, statues, screens and even furniture.