Past Exhibitions
- Japanese Mirrors
- February 7, 2017 - March 12, 2017
Up until the early modern era, mirrors in both the East and the West were primarily made of cast bronze, with their reverse sides featuring a wide range of patterns. In Japan, bronze mirrors were first introduced from mainland Asia in the second century BCE, during the Yayoi period. Thereafter, many bronze mirrors were copied after these imported, Chinese prototypes. During the Heian period (794–1185) the shapes and compositions of mirrors began to change with the development of Japanese-style bronze mirrors, which continued to be produced through the early modern era. Here we present Japanese-style mirrors from the Heian through the Edo (1615–1868) periods, highlighting the diversity of their elegant patterns.