Tibetan Brass and Copper Mirror

This fine Tibetan altar mirror is unusually complex. The top section is present; the original stand no longer is and so the mirror sits on a custom-made display stand.

It comprises a polished brass ‘mirror’ section, surrounded by a well-cast, pierced copper frame, decorated in relief with Tibetan scrolling flame motifs, said to symbolise truth.

Mirrors are auspicious in traditional Tibetan culture, and are used in different ways in Buddhist art and ritual. This example is for an altar, but sometimes they are held by deities as attributes, and sometimes they are included in the decoration on a thangka, as one of the eight auspicious symbols.

Mirrors were regarded as a symbol of one’s karma – either one’s fate of karma that is the result of accumulated deeds – these being reflected by the mirror.

A similar though less elaborate mirror attributed to 18th century Tibet is illustrated in Pal (1990, p. 305).

The example here is a good, dark patina befitting an 18th century attributed. Impacted sediment, probably an accumulation of incense dust, is to be found in the crevices.