Artwork Page for Bishamonten Ritual Mirror

Details / Information for Bishamonten Ritual Mirror

Bishamonten Ritual Mirror

毘沙門天鏡像

1000s–1100s

Japan, Heian period

(794–1185)
Medium
silvered bronze with incised design
Measurements
Diameter: 15.3 cm (6 in.)
Credit Line
The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 1977.32
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Bishamonten sits on a demon who struggles beneath his weight.

Description

Bishamonten, the Buddhist guardian of the North, appears here with an entourage. Early votive mirrors like this one are called kyōzō, literally “mirrors with images.” One theory is that they appeared along with the development of Shinto-Buddhist combinatory thought, in which specific Buddhist deities were identified with specific kami, or Shinto deities. In this theory, sacred mirrors venerated as proxies for kami came to be incised with images of Buddhist deities. Another idea is that they developed in the context of Esoteric Buddhist ritual.

Bishamonten Ritual Mirror

1000s–1100s

Japan, Heian period (794–1185)

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