Overview

This dark brown mirror is coated with black lacquer on the back. The high rim is of medium thickness. The conical knob is surrounded by pistils spread out around it like the petals of a blossom, but their tips are fused so that they resemble a string of jewels. This suggests a later date than Mirror with Butterflies and Birds (EK17-32) and Mirror with Butterflies and Pair of Birds (EK17-64). The butterflies on this mirror are distributed in three tiers radiating away from the knob, and the dots representing the insects' heads form the basis for their arrangement. In the outer band are butterflies divided into twelve segments; the butterflies just inside that border are spread out equally in eight part (the paired birds occupy one of these parts); and the innermost area is demarcated into six parts. Each of these is an even number, a simple way of apportioning the pictorial space. The butterfly motifs, although abbreviated and patternized, were formed using a spatula. The most recent example of a butterfly-patterned mirror, with an inscription dated to 1387 (Kakei 1), has been preserved in Futarasan Shrine, in Tochigi Prefecture.