Bronze mirror
Bronze mirrors preceded the glass mirrors of today. This type of mirror, sometimes termed a copper mirror, has been found by archaeologists among elite assemblages from various cultures, from Etruscan Italy to Japan. Typically they are round and rather small, in the West with a handle, in East Asia with a knob to hold at the back, often with a loop for a cord, or silk tassel.[1] Some were fitted with small stands, and others had a hinged protective cover.[2] In surviving ancient examples the surface is too corroded to be reflective, but some bronze mirrors are still made.
They are first-surface mirrors, where the immediate bronze surface is flat, plain and highly polished to be reflective, rather than second-surface mirrors, like modern glass mirrors, where the reflection comes from a backing applied to the glass.
They are significantly inferior to modern mirrors in terms of the quality of the reflection, but in older societies were sufficiently impressive to have religious significance in some societies. Examples include the
The back is often highly decorated in various techniques and styles, and may be significant for
History
Bronze mirrors were themselves preceded by mirrors made of
Right: seated woman holding a mirror; Ancient Greek Attic red-figure lekythos
Egypt and Near East
Polished bronze mirrors were made by the Egyptians from 2900 BCE onwards.[12] These Egyptian mirrors are spoken of in biblical Book of Exodus (1500 BCE), and used by Moses in the construction of the Tabernacle.
China
Bronze mirrors were produced in China from Neolithic times until Western glass mirrors were brought to China. Bronze mirrors were usually circular, with one side polished bright, to give a reflection, and the reverse side normally decorated in cast relief in early examples, later on sometimes inlaid in precious metal. They generally had a knob or loop in the center of the back so that they could be easily held in the hand, and sometimes attached to clothing. In the Tang and Song dynasties some examples were larger and more variable in shape. Other examples are so small, about 5 cm across, that they may have been mainly intended for ritual use, as "charms to ward off evil spirits".[13]
Some of the earliest examples of Chinese bronze mirrors belonged to the late Neolithic
Specific types include the
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Early mirror, Qijia culture, before c. 1800 BCE
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Han dynasty, 202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD
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The "animals and grapes design", c. 690, Tang dynasty
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The "double fish design", popular in the Jin dynasty (1115-1234)
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Very small hand mirror
Europe
The
Folding mirrors, also called "box mirrors", from about 400 BCE, typically had relief designs on the outside of the lid, and engraved decoration on the inside. Most were still round, and lacked handles, presumably as they were meant to be held by a maid. Eros/Cupid is often shown holding up a mirror for Aphrodite/Venus.
In the early periods, designs were typically engraved on the back, but luxury Greco-Roman mirrors often had figurative designs in relief.
Mirrors from the Iron Age have been discovered across most of Europe, generally as grave-goods. The Greeks were the earliest makers; the Etruscans imported Greek mirrors, and then began making their own, passing the practice on to their Roman conquerors.[17]
In the 1st century CE Seneca mentioned large wall mirrors; it may have been in front of one of these that Demosthenes used to practise his speeches in the 4th century BCE. The rich had silver or silver-plated mirrors.[18]
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Greek caryatid mirror, mid 5th century BCE
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Greek folding mirror (found in Italy), 3rd century BCE, with Eros playing for Aphrodite
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Front of silver Roman mirror from Pompeii
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Silver, Roman, 150-200 CE, with unusually high relief
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Cupid with mirror on a mirror-back, Spain
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Fresco from Pompeii
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Cupid holding up a rectangular mirror, Villa of the Mysteries
India
In the
With excavations in
Japan
Japanese bronze mirrors were adopted from China, and are similar in form and, initially, style. Many had red silk tassels through the knob on the back.
See also
Notes
- ^ Osborne, 174; Dillon, 32
- ^ Osborne, 570
- ^ Osborne, 569–570
- ^ Osborne, 174
- ^ Osborne, 174–176
- ^ Osborne, 570
- ^ Osborne, 570
- ISBN 978-0-521-08571-7.
- ^ The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 64. Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 1934. p. 71.
- ^ Meeks, 63–64
- ^ Osborne, 570; Meeks, 65
- ^ Z. Y. Saad: The Excavations at Helwan. Art and Civilization in the First and Second Egyptian Dynasties, University of Oklahoma Press, Oklahoma 1969, p.54
- ^ Dillon, 32; Osborne, 175–176, 176 quoted
- ^ Dillon, 32
- ^ Osborne, 176
- ^ Dillon, 32
- ^ Osborne, 570
- ^ Osborne, 570
- ^ Lloyd-Morgan, Glenys (1977). 'Mirrors in Roman Britain', in J. Munby and M. Henig (eds), Roman Life and Art in Britain. BAR. pp. 231–52.
- .
- ISBN 0-7206-0431-1, p.32
- ^ Alexander Rea: Catalogue of the Prehistoric Antiquities,1915, Item 15,23, Plate II
- ^ B SASISEKARAN et al: ADICHANALLUR: A PREHISTORIC MINING SITE, Indian Journal of History of Science, 45.3 (2010) 369–394
- ISBN 978-0-8248-3775-4.
References
- Dillon, Michael O. (ed.), China: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary, 1998, Curzon Press, ISBN 9780700704392 google books
- Osborne, Harold (ed), The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts, 1975, OUP, ISBN 0198661134
Further reading
- B. Schweig: “Mirrors”, Antiquity, Vol. 15 (1941), pp. 257–268
- Glenys Lloyd-Morgan 'Mirrors in Roman Britain', in J. Munby and M. Henig (eds), Roman Life and Art in Britain, BAR Brit Ser 41 (1977), 231–52
- Glenys Lloyd-Morgan 'The antecedents and development of the Roman hand mirror', in H. M. Blake, T. W. Potter and D. B. Whitehouse (eds), Papers in Italian Archaeology I: the Lancaster Seminar. Recent Research in Prehistoric, Classical and Medieval Archaeology, BAR Supplementary Series 41 (Oxford; 1978), 227–35.
- Glenys Lloyd-Morgan 'The Roman mirror and its origins', in N. T. de Grummond (ed.), A Guide to Etruscan Mirrors (Tallahassee, Florida; 1982), 39–48.