Bronze mirror

A **bronze mirror** is a mirror that is made out of polished bronze. Most mirrors used to be made out of Bronze before the invention of glass mirrors. In many asian societies people saw these mirrors as religiously significant.

This includes Shinto where one of the most important relics is a bronze mirror: Yata no Kagami. Shinto followers believe that by worshiping a mirror, they recognize and honor the divine within themselves. 

## Gallery 
### Asian bronze mirrors 

File:Bronze_Mirror,_Qijia_Culture,_GansuNational_Museum,Beijing.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bronze_Mirror,_Qijia_Culture,_GansuNational_Museum,Beijing.jpg|Early mirror, Qijia culture, before c. 1800 BCE
File:Han_Bronze_Mirror_-_8.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Han_Bronze_Mirror_-_8.jpg|Han dynasty, 202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD
File:Dinastia_tang,_specchio_con_animali_e_uva,_690_dc_ca.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dinastia_tang,_specchio_con_animali_e_uva,_690_dc_ca.jpg|The "animals and grapes design", c. 690, Tang dynasty
File:Jin_dynasty_double_fish_mirror.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jin_dynasty_double_fish_mirror.jpg|The "double fish design", popular in the Jin dynasty (1115-1234)
File:Song_Bronze_Mirror_08.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Song_Bronze_Mirror_08.jpg|Song dynasty bronze mirror
File:Chinese_numismatic_charms_-_Scott_Semans_53.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_numismatic_charms_-_Scott_Semans_53.jpg|Very small hand mirror

### European bronze mirrors 

File:Bronze_mirror_with_a_support_in_the_form_of_a_draped_woman_MET_DP266227_(cropped).jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bronze_mirror_with_a_support_in_the_form_of_a_draped_woman_MET_DP266227_(cropped).jpg|Greek caryatid mirror, mid 5th century BCE
File:7279_-_3rd_century_BC_mirror_-_Museo_archeologico_nazionale,_Taranto,_room_XII_-_Photo_by_Giovanni_Dall'Orto,_October_11_2015_(cropped).jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:7279_-_3rd_century_BC_mirror_-_Museo_archeologico_nazionale,_Taranto,_room_XII_-_Photo_by_Giovanni_Dall'Orto,_October_11_2015_(cropped).jpg|Greek folding mirror (found in Italy), 3rd century BCE, with Eros playing for Aphrodite
File:Pompéi_(Nîmes)_45.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pomp%C3%A9i_(N%C3%AEmes)_45.jpg|Front of silver Roman mirror from Pompeii
File:Specchio_in_argento_con_mito_di_frisso_ed_elle,_da_vellerano,_tomba_2,_150-200_ca..JPG|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Specchio_in_argento_con_mito_di_frisso_ed_elle,_da_vellerano,_tomba_2,_150-200_ca..JPG|Silver, Roman, 150-200 CE, with unusually high relief
File:Espejo_(16745524072).jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Espejo_(16745524072).jpg|Cupid with mirror on a mirror-back, Spain
File:Fresco_showing_a_woman_looking_in_a_mirror_as_she_dresses_(or_undresses)_her_hair,_from_the_Villa_of_Arianna_at_Stabiae_(Castellammare_di_Stabia),_Naples_National_Archaeological_Museum_(17392924485).jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fresco_showing_a_woman_looking_in_a_mirror_as_she_dresses_(or_undresses)_her_hair,_from_the_Villa_of_Arianna_at_Stabiae_(Castellammare_di_Stabia),_Naples_National_Archaeological_Museum_(17392924485).jpg|Fresco from Pompeii
File:Villa_dei_Misteri_IX_-_1.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Villa_dei_Misteri_IX_-_1.jpg|Cupid holding up a rectangular mirror, Villa of the Mysteries

## References 
## Sources 
* Dillon, Michael O. (ed.), *China: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary*, 1998, Curzon Press, ISBN 9780700704392 google books
* Osborne, Harold (ed), *The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts*, 1975, OUP,