Mirror with pair of cranes pecking on pine
- Date
-
制作年 AD12
- Title
- マツクイツルモンキョウ
- Materials, techniques and shape
- 銅
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Keio Museum Commons Campus Mita
This mirror was most likely crafted under heavy Chinese influence as its similarity to the “Mirror with paired simurgh birds holding ribbons” is obvious. However, the mystic simurgh birds have been replaced by cranes, and the ribbon or plant they were holding in their beaks, by a pine tree. Both the pine tree and the crane were symbols of longevity, so in this mirror, one can see a combination of lucky objects particularly favored by the Japanese. Interesting evidence that cranes were already an established motif in mirrors crafted as early as the early Heian Period, appears in Lady Ise’s poem in Chapter 5 of The Gleanings of Japanese Poetry (Jap. Shui Wakashu) , Section 874, Line 939 forward. Preceded by an explanation “When I had a mirror cast, I requested that the design of a crane decorate its back,” the poem can be roughly translated as follows: “I pray for longevity of a thousand years, looking far beyond the crane on the back.”
Overview
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Depository and ID
Components
OPEN DATADESIGN
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- Title (EN)
- Mirror with pair of cranes pecking on pine
Provenance
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