Eight-Lobed Bronze Mirror with Scrollwork Ornamentation・Round Bronze Mirror with Wisteria Ornamentation and Cranes Carrying Pine Branches

【Important Cultural Property】

Eight-Lobed Bronze Mirror with Scrollwork Ornamentation

This bronze mirror is one of the finest in the Kasugataisha Museum collection. It is displayed face-down to show its ornamentation; the opposite side is undecorated and would have been polished to create a reflective surface. When in use, the mirror would have been hung by a cord passed through the knob at the back.

The molded ornamentation on the mirror has a Chinese-inspired motif of long-tailed birds and blooming flowers. The pattern, which is simply called “auspicious birds and flowers” (zuika zuichō), communicates a sense of grandeur and good fortune.

【Important Cultural Property】

Round Bronze Mirror with Wisteria Ornamentation and Cranes Carrying Pine Branches

This bronze mirror was discovered in a black lacquer box among the sacred treasures of Wakamiya Shrine. It is significant both for its design, which is unusually flat, and for being one of the few mirrors that can be precisely dated. The inner perimeter has an inscription indicating it was donated in 1141 by Genshū, a monk from nearby Kōfukuji Temple.

In addition to wisteria blooms, the mirror is adorned with cranes carrying sprigs of pine in their beaks (matsukuizuru). This motif first appeared in the ninth century, and it is thought to be a native Japanese twist on the “birds carrying flowers” (hanakuidori) motif commonly featured on metalwork produced in Tang-dynasty China (618–907).

この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。