The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Bishamonten Ritual Mirror

Bishamonten Ritual Mirror

1000s–1100s
Location: not on view

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.
  • H. Minkenhof
    ?–1977
    (Shunichi Yabumoto Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1977–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1977.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 65, no. 1 (1978): 2–42. Reproduced: no. 148, p. 36; Mentioned: no. 148, p. 43 www.jstor.org
  • Mirrors: Art and Symbol. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 3-November 18, 1984).
    Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978).
  • {{cite web|title=Bishamonten Ritual Mirror|url=false|author=|year=1000s–1100s|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1977.32