National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Votive mirrors have Buddhist deities incised on the mirror’s reflective side. Extant examples suggest votive mirrors first appeared in the mid-Heian period (794–1185), but multiple theories exist concerning their origins. Some scholars think they were used to depict Buddhist deities (honji butsu) on sacred Shinto mirrors because they were believed to be the original forms of Shinto deities under Shinto-Buddhist combinatory thought (honji suijaku). Others have suggested the mirrors come from esoteric Buddhist practice and are meant to represent the moon wheels in which Buddhist deities appear.

This large circular votive mirror was cast in bronze and engraved with the buddha Amida (Skt. Amitābha). The buddha is depicted seated in lotus position on a lotus pedestal with a flaming halo and mandorla. Amida’s hands are in the meditation mudra. Traces of tin plating can be seen on the surface of the mirror. A type of dashed-line engraving (keri bori) made of wedge-shaped incisions is used for most of the image, but connected dashes are used for the facial features and the circular dot on the forehead representing a curled forelock (Skt. ūrṇā). The delicate engraving and soft design reflect the tastes of the late Heian period. The mirror has a rounded rim and a low round knob o n the back. This thinly cast mirror is typical for the end of the Heian period, with a single circular division, symmetrical inner design of a pair of cranes carrying pine branches, and scattered pine sprigs in the inner and outer sections. The knob on the back does not have a hole in it, suggesting the work was not converted from an actual mirror that had been used, but was originally made as votive mirror with a Buddhist image incised on it.