Overview

This blackish brown mirror is veiled with a light green patina; it has a thick, high rim with straight sides. The knob surround takes the form of flower pistils spread out around the knob like the petals of a single blossom. While the branches of paulownia spread from the undulating line of the sandy shore, forming a "U" around the knob, leaves and berries appear here and there. In the background, a clump of bamboo grass grows in profusion, filling the space. A pair of birds in very unnatural postures sport just above the knob. The paulownia motif appeared in its familiar, stylized form during the 14th century at the earliest, but the paulownia leaves depicted on this mirror are still portrayed realistically with the berries on long stalks reaching upward. The spatula was handled with a precise touch, indicating a production date around the latter half of the 13th century.