Mirror

This print takes as its subject a mirror, likely an East Asian bronze or polished metal example of the kind preserved in temple treasuries and domestic shrines. The motif gave Hiratsuka an unusually intimate and formally contained subject, in contrast to the architectural and landscape work that dominates his catalog. A mirror's circular form, decorative reverse, and surrounding cord or stand offer a self-contained design problem well suited to his black-and-white mokuhanga approach: the disc reads as a strong geometric anchor, while incised ornament — frequently dragons, flora, or auspicious patterning on antique mirrors — translates directly into the cut-line vocabulary he favored. The print would have been carved, inked, and pulled in his own studio in keeping with sosaku-hanga principle. Single-object compositions of this kind connect Hiratsuka's practice to the broader twentieth-century interest in still life, while the choice of a traditional implement is consistent with his sustained engagement with Japan's material and religious heritage across an eight-decade career.