A mirror stand and a mirror case
Mid-Edo period (18C)
Purchased / Museum’s own collection
This is part of a wedding (or bridal) set which is said to have been prepared for the marriage of Sakai Tadayori (1705-1766), the fifth lord of the Shōnai domain, and Chōhime, the adopted daughter of Maeda Tsunanori, the fifth lord of the Kaga domain. It is adorned with the crests of the Sakai and Maeda families, the wood sorrel (‘Katabami-mon’) and plum blossom (‘Umebachi-mon’) respectively.
The ‘kagami bako’ you see here is a special box designed specifically for housing a mirror. It is designed to store the mirror when not in use and prevent its surface from oxidizing or becoming cloudy.