An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c23.s5: 18.5 Mirrors
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c23.s5
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18.5 Mirrors
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Mirrors in the shape of circular metal discs, originally polished on one side and plain or with a design or decoration on the other, have been found in a limited number at many sites. The earliest reported examples are from Mehi (Stein, 1931, pp. 157-8) in Baluchistan where two copper mirrors have been found in the cemetery. One of them has been described as a thin copper disc probably used as a mirror; the other, 1·27 cm in diameter, has an elegant handle 'representing a stylized female figure ... with breasts and conventionalized arms akimbo, but with the head provided only by the reflection of the user of the mirror.' (Piggott, 1961, pp. 112-13). The stylized female figure has been done in the 'manner of the clay figurines' from sites of the Kulli culture indicating thereby that it is a local product. In Piggotts view the idea of the head of the user of the mirror serving as the head of the figure on the handle and 'the sophistication of the metal-work make the Mehi mirror stand out among the toilet accessories of the whole Ancient East—there is nothing like it in the otherwise more advanced Harappa culture, and the use of a human figure as a mirror handle, though familiar in Egypt in the XVIII Dynasty (from about 1570 B.C.), is unknown in Western Asia' (*ibid.*). However a handled copper mirror of the Mehi type has also been found at Sapalli-Tepe near Termex on the Oxus in s. Uzbekistan (Gupta, 1979, 2, pp. 203-4).
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Eight Harappa [4.9] mirrors are reported, three each from Mohenjo-daro and Harappa and one each from KALIBANGAN and LOTHAL. Of those from Mohenjodaro (Mackay, 1938, pp. 477-8), all of bronze, slightly oval in shape with recessed face and the edge slightly raised, one is comparatively small in diameter and was 'possibly made for a child' (*ibid.*). The other two have respectively a rectangular and long flat handle, each having a hole at the end of the handle. The mirrors from Harappa are of copper. One of them, 1·80 cm in diameter, is oval in shape with a long tang (Vats, 1940, p. 391), while another, which is similar, is of a smaller size (*ASI-AR 1936-7*, p. 40). The third specimen, round in shape with a plain flat handle, was 'found in the water-jar' placed along with other pottery in Burial 2 from Cemetery R 37 (Wheeler, 1947, pp. 87, 125-6). The copper or bronze mirror from KALIBANGAN also has been found in a grave near the head of a human skeleton (*IAR 1963-4*, p. 38). The LOTHAL bronze mirror is ovoid in shape having a slightly concave surface. In this context reference may also be made to the bronze/copper mirrors found at a number of contemporary sites like Mundigak and Dashli-Tepe, respectively in s. and n. Afghanistan, Altin-Depe in s. Turkmenia, Bronze Age sites of the Andronovo culture and Tulkhar Depe in s. Tadjikistan (Gupta, 1979, 2, pp. 116, 160-1, 190, 193, 195 and 201).
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Four moulded plaques, of which three are flat and one hollow, variously 1·46, 1·78 and 2·29 cm in diameter, and fragment of a boss similar to the one on the back of another specimen have been found in the Megalithic urn burials [4.17.9] at ADICHANALLUR (*ASI-AR 1902-3*, pp. 128, 129), which have been identified as mirrors (Margabandhu, 1977, p. 434). One of them has a flat triangular pointed handle, 3·8 cm, with a broad flat bead moulding around the circumference, the underside being flat and the upper side slightly convex. The other illustrated specimen also probably had a handle similar to the former as is evident from the break at the rim.
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A 'circular dish with a handle attached to it and a knob in the centre' and another, again of copper and similar shape found close to it, have been recorded from VAIŚĀLĪ *ASI-AR, 1903-4*, p. 99) in the Mauryan levels. On the basis of similarity with the BRAHMAPURI and ADICHANALLUR specimens, they have also been identified as mirrors with the knob in the centre as *omphalos* (Margabandhu, 1977, p. 434). At PĀṬALIPUTRA (Bulandibagh) has been found a small circular mirror, probably of copper, 6·35 cm in diameter and provided with a round handle of the same material; it is probably assignable to the Śuṅga period (*ASI-AR 1926-7*, p. 139). The rim of this mirror is decorated with a wavy ornament and the back is slightly convex in shape. The two circular handled bronze mirrors, both of the Śuṅga-Kushan period, from RAIRH have a recessed face with a small pointed tang soldered to the recessed portion of the mirror.
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The finest examples of mirrors are from Taxila, where they are found only in the Śaka-Parthian city of Sirkap datable to the 1st century B.C.-A.D. (Marshall, 1951, pp. 215, 584-5). About a score in all, they are circular discs varying between 5·55 and 16·5 cm in diameter, 'furnished with a tang at the base which fitted into a bone, ivory or wooden handle. The face of the mirror is smooth and slightly convex, the back sometimes plain, but more frequently relieved with a broad wavy rim and a raised boss or *omphalos* in the centre.' These mirrors, unlike their w. prototypes, are not 'decorated with the incised or repoussé figures so often found on Greek mirrors' except the copper mirror pendant which has two birds facing each other on the rim which is a typically Greek pattern (*ibid.*, pp. 581 and 584). Another mirror pendant, of bronze, from Sirkap has the same motif but with a simplified design and the ring is attached to the handle of the mirror instead of to its top (*ibid*., p. 581). One of the mirrors with a tang 4·10 cm in length has been found separately along with its bone handle, roughly decorated with incised bands (*ibid*., pp. 215, 584), while another has also a complete bone handle (*ibid*.).
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Three mirrors and a mirror-case or *patera*, which have been ascribed to Roman workmanship or its local imitation, have also been found in the Kundangar hoard in a large metal pot buried in a room of a house of the Sātavāhana period (*c*. 1st to 3rd centuries A.D.) at BRAHMAPURI (Khandalavala, 1960, pp. 29-75). Of them, all datable to the 2nd century, the two smaller ones, respectively 6·66 and 7·30 cm in diameter, and having concentric grooves or *omphalos* are considered to be miniature local imitation of the third which is of Roman workmanship. This last one which is convex in shape and 18 cm in diameter, with *omphalos* is smaller to one of the Taxila specimens (Marshall, 1951, pl. 181 f). Besides these ‘a thin circular metal repoussé emblem with very slightly upturned rim indicating that it formed the base of some form of dish or may be the decorative pattern of a small mirror-case’, of copper, 8·2 cm in diameter, has also been found in the hoard which, according to Khandalavala, is probably from a mirror case or *patera* depicting the legend of Perseus and Andromeda and is probably of Alexandrian workmanship.
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Two copper mirrors are reported from MASAON, one in the NBPW [4.18] levels and the other having a handle and a hook in the Gupta levels.
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Reference may also be made here to ivory mirror handles (Dwivedi, 1976, p. 7) from Harappa (Vats, 1940, pp. 177, 459-60). Bone and ivory mirror handles are also found in 1st century B.C.-A.D. levels of Sirkap; they are either decorated with figure carvings in relief or turned on the lathe and decorated with mouldings and incised lines and hatching (Marshall, 1951, pp. 658-9). Other sites where ivory handles, which could be mirror handles, are reported from are ROPAR, HASTINĀPURA, VAIŚĀLĪ, NEVASA, etc. In this context it is interesting to mention the ivory figure of Lakṣmī from Pompeii which is also identified as a mirror handle (Vogel, 1940, p. 1; Dwivedi, 1976, pp. 10, 64-6). [See TER.]
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Dwivedi, V.P., 1976, *Indian Ivories*, Delhi. Gupta, S.P., 1979, *Arch. of Soviet C. Asia & the Indian Borderlands*, Delhi. Khandalavala, K., 1960, in *Lalit Kalā*, 7. Mackay, E.J.H., 1938, *Further Excavations at Mohenjo-daro*, Delhi. Margabandhu, C., 1977, in *Jour. Oriental Inst.*, 26, 4. Marshall, J., 1951, *Taxila*, Cambridge. Piggott, S., 1961, *Prehistoric India*. Harmondsworth. Sharma, Y.D., 1955 & 1956, in *Lalit Kalā*, 1-2. Stein, A., 1931, *Arch. Tour in Gedrosia*, Mem. ASI, 43. Vats, M.S., 1940, *Excavations at Harappa*, Delhi. Vogel. J. Ph., 1940, in *Annual Bibliography of Indian Arch. for the Year 1938*, 13, Leyden. For other sites see respective entries in vol. II.—B.M. PANDE