Dressing table - Siblings

A stand for hanging a mirror, or a mirror stand. The word "mirror stand" is Chinese, and in Yamato it is "kagamikake" or "kagamitate". The shape of a mirror stand is known from the Heian period, and mirrors at that time were called "nekoji-gata" (root-pulled) mirrors, which imitated the shape of a standing tree uprooted by its roots. It originated from ancient times when sakaki trees were uprooted and mirrors hung on their branches for rituals and incantations. The base of a single pillar has legs, each with five double heron feet. At the top of the pillar is a bracken-shaped support for hanging the mirror, and an eight-ridged mirror is hung on this. The total height is about 70 to 80 centimeters. It is finished with black lacquer, and seems to have been used until around the time of the Northern and Southern Courts. In the Muromachi period, dressing tables with drawers for storing combs and cosmetics were created. They are beautifully made with a drawer box as the base and a torii-shaped mirror stand on top, decorated with lacquer work, but because the mirrors hung on them are small, special folding mirror stands for large mirrors were also used. These two types of dressing tables continued to be used as furnishings for aristocrats in the early modern period, but in the Edo period, simple dressing tables were created that were assembled by opening the lid of a drawer box and inserting a mirror stand, and were used by the general public. In the Meiji period, mirrors changed from metal to glass, and their shape changed from circular to square. The most typical type is a mirror stand attached to a drawer, similar to the mirrors of the Muromachi period, but the mirror stand has two supports and a screw that allows the mirror to rotate and change the angle, and the drawers on the base are not lacquered but are made of wood such as mulberry, zelkova, horse chestnut, and black persimmon. In the Taisho era, this developed further, with the mirror on top becoming elongated and 70-80cm long, and various stands were made, with flat, single, or double-ridged stands, making them easier to use. This is also called a "sugatamiryo," and is the representative Japanese dressing table from the Taisho and Showa eras. There is also the "hime dressing table," a smaller version of this that is painted to look like lacquer. At the end of the Taisho era, three-sided dressing tables were made under Western influence, but they did not become widespread at the time. They became very popular in the 1950s and 60s, and chair-style dressing tables were first used. From the 1960s onwards, Westernization progressed further, and desk-style dressing tables and chest-style vanities came into use.

[Kazuko Koizumi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

鏡をかける台、または鏡立(かがみた)てのこと。鏡台ということばは中国語で、大和(やまと)ことばは「かがみかけ」「かがみたて」である。鏡台の形がわかるのは平安時代のものからで、当時の鏡は根古志(ねこじ)形とよばれるもので、これは立ち木を根元から引き抜いた形を模したものである。上代に祭祀(さいし)、呪術(じゅじゅつ)のため榊(さかき)を根こじにしてその枝に鏡をかけたものがもとになっている。1本の柱の下に足がつき、足は5枚の鷺足(さぎあし)が二重になっている。柱の上方に鏡をかける蕨(わらび)形の支え手があり、ここに八稜(はちりょう)鏡をかける。全高およそ70～80センチメートル。黒漆塗りなどが施されており、南北朝あたりまで使われていたようである。室町時代になると櫛(くし)や化粧道具を入れるための抽斗(ひきだし)といっしょになった鏡台が生まれる。抽斗箱を台とし上に鳥居形の鏡かけがついたもので、蒔絵(まきえ)などが施されて美しくつくられているが、これにかける鏡は小形であるため、このほかに大形鏡をかける専用の折り畳み式鏡かけも使われた。この二つの形式の鏡台はそのまま近世の貴族調度として引き続き用いられたが、一方、江戸時代になると、抽斗箱の蓋(ふた)を開けて、ここに鏡立てを差し込んで組み立てる簡単な鏡台がつくられて一般大衆に用いられた。明治に入ると、鏡も金属鏡からガラス鏡に、形も円形から方形にかわった。代表的な形式は、抽斗の上に鏡立てを取り付けたもので、室町時代の鏡に似ているが、鏡立ては2本の支柱と鏡がねじで回転し角度を変えられるようになっており、台の抽斗も漆塗りでなく、クワ、ケヤキ、トチ、黒柿(くろがき)などの木地造りになっている。大正に入るとこれがさらに発展し、上部の鏡が70～80センチメートルの縦長形となり、台も平山、片山、両山と各種つくられ、使いやすいものとなった。これは姿見ともよばれ、これが大正、昭和を通しての和鏡台の代表的なものである。また、これを小形にし、漆塗り風に塗った姫鏡台がある。大正末には西洋の影響で三面鏡台がつくられたが、当時は普及せず、昭和30年代から40年代にかけて大流行し、椅子(いす)式鏡台が初めて使われた。昭和40年代以降はさらに洋風化が進み、机形のドレッシングテーブルや、たんす形式の化粧だんすなども使われるようになった。

［小泉和子］

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