Overview

This small mirror is dark green in color, with a flaring, thick rim and thin body. Mirrors of this type are numerous, and almost without exception the knob surround is a simple floral shape. There is a strong probability that they all were made in the same workshop. A casting mold for mirrors with a very similar rim were recently discovered, along with artifacts dating to the early 13th century, at the Hachijôin-chô site in Kyoto, revealing a part of a once-active workshop. Excavated examples also date mainly to the same period, from the late 12th century to the first half of the 13th century. These include three mirrors, excavated together with a sutra container bearing a dated inscription corresponding to 1203 (Kennin 3), and a sutra scroll that included a postscript bearing the same date, from the Santai-ji Temple Sutra Mound in Niigata Prefecture. The museum mirror features a standard composition of a chrysanthemum bending toward the left, but the representation of the flower petals as straight lines is peculiar to the craftsman who wielded the spatula.