Overview

This mirror is blackish brown in color. A hemispherical knob is surrounded by six flower petals, and traces of a rod support, used to create a hole through the knob, are visible on the knob surround. The inner surface of the rim is rough, apparently a result during the casting process. While the stems of the flowers flow counterclockwise, in an archaic style, the arabesques are burgeoning. In addition to round mirrors decorated with auspicious flowers and paired birds that have been handed down in various collections, many similar examples dating from the latter half of the 12th century have been excavated from sites including Tarimaeda in Hyôgo Prefecture and the Inariyama Sutra Mound in Kyoto Prefecture. On the museum mirror, the tail feathers of the birds are strongly portrayed; along with Mirror with Pair of Phoenixes and Arabesques (EK17-11), this is a rather early example.