Dear Prof Knudsen,

You might be interested in having a look at the following:

For mirrors as material objects in South Asia:

Srinivasan, Sharda. (2008) ‘Mirrors: Metal Mirrors from India’, in Encyclopedia of the History of Science and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, eds. Helaine Selin, pp. 1699-1704, Springer Netherlands.

Vassilkov, Yaroslav. V. (2010) ‘Pre-Maurya “Rattle-Mirror” with Artistic Designs from Scythian Burial Mounds of the Altai Region in the Light of Sanskrit Sources’, Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, Vol. 17, No. 3.

Pendergrast, Mark. (2004) Mirror, A History of the Human Love Affair with Reflection, Basic Books, New York. (only a few portions may be relevant)

Cultural significance of and imagery involving mirrors: (South Asia):

Bentor, Yael. (1995) ‘On the Symbolism of the Mirror in Indo-Tibetan Consecration Rituals’, Journal of Indian Philosophy, pp. 23, 57-71.

Bansat-Boudon, Lyne. (1992) ‘Le coeur-miroir: Remarques sur la théorie indienne de l'expérience esthétique et ses rapports avec le théâtre’, In Les Cahiers de Philosophie, No. 14, 1992, “L’Orient de la pensée, pp. 135-154.

Granoff, Phyllis & Shinohara, Koichi. (eds.) (2004) Images in Asian Religions: Texts and Contexts, University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver.

Granoff, Phyllis. (1998) ‘Maitreya’s Jewelled World: Some Remarks on Gems and Visions in Buddhist Texts’, Journal of Indian Philosophy 26: pp. 347–371.

Granoff, Phyllis. (2001) ‘Portraits, Likenesses and Looking Glasses: Some Literary and Philosophical Reflections on Representation and Art in Medieval India’ In Ja Assmann and Albert L. Baumgarten, eds., Representation in Religion: Studies in Honor of Moshe Barasch (Leiden: Brill, 2001).

Granoff, Phyllis. (2004) ‘Images and Their Ritual Use in Medieval India: Hesitations and Contradictions’, In Granoff, Phyllis & Shinohara, Koichi. (eds.) Images in Asian Religions: Texts and Contexts, University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver. pp. 19-50.

Orofino, Giacomella (1994) ‘Divination with Mirrors. Observations on a Smilie in the Kālacakra Literature’. Oslo. In the Tibetan Studies, Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International for Tibetan Studies, Figurines, 1992.

Preisendanz, K. (1989). ‘On ātmendriyamanorthasannikarṣa and the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika Theory of Vision’, Berliner Indologische Studien 4-5, p. 141-213.

Wawrytko, Sandrea. A. (2007) ‘Holding Up the Mirrors to Buddha-nature: Discerning the Ghee in the Lotus Sūtra’, Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy (Fall, 2007)

Wayman, Alex. (1971) ‘A Jotting on the Mirror: Those of Ladies’, Mahfil, Vol. 7, No. 3/4, Sanskrit issue (Fall-Winter 1971), pp. 209-213.

Wayman, Alex. (1984) ‘The Mirror as a Pan-Buddhist Metaphor-Simile. Buddhist Insight’: Essays by Alex Wayman (Buddhist Tradition Series Vol.7). George R. Elder (ed., intro.). Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited: Delhi, 129-152.

Other general recommended readings:

Anderson, Miranda., Ed. (2007) The Book of the Mirror: An Interdisciplinary Collection exploring the Cultural Story of the Mirror, Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Bensen Cain, Rebecca. (2012) ‘Plato on Mimesis and Mirrors’, Philosophy and Literature, 36: pp. 187–195.

Cline, Erin M. (2008) ‘Mirrors, Minds, and Metaphors’, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 58, No. 3, July 2008, pp. 337-357.

Demiéville, Paul. (1991) ‘The Mirror of the Mind in Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought’ (Buddhist Tradition Series Vol.16). Peter N. Gregory (ed.). pp. 13-40, MLBD: Delhi.

Enoch, Jay. M. (2006) ‘History of Mirrors Dating Back 8000 Years’, In Optometry and Vision Science, American Academy of Optometry, Vol. 83, No. 10, pp. 775-781.

Keeler, Annabel. (2006) ‘Ṣūfī tafsīr as a Mirror: al-Qushayrī the murshid in his Laṭā’if al-ishārāt’ in Journal of Qur’anic Studies. Vol. 8, No. 1 (2006), pp. 1-21.

Lai, Whalen. (1979) ‘Ch'an metaphors: Waves, water, mirror, lamp’, Philosophy East and West, 29:3 (1979, July) pp. 243

Loewe, Michael. (2002) ‘Dated Inscriptions on Certain Mirrors (A.D. 6-105): Genuine or Fabricated?’ in Early China, Vol. 26/27 (2001-2002), pp. 233-256.

Lusthaus, Dan. (1985) ‘Ch'an and Taoist Mirrors: Reflections on Richard Garner's "Deconstruction of the Mirror..."’, In Journal of Chinese Philosophy, V. 12, pp. 169-178.

Papaioannou, Strastis. (2010) ‘Byzantine Mirrors: Self-Reflection in Medieval Greek Writing’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 64. pp. 81-101.

Terras, Rita. (1975) ‘Goethe’s Use of the Mirror Image’, Monatshefte, Vol. 67, No. 4 (Winter, 1975), pp. 387-402.

I hope this helps.

Thanks.

Mrinal Kaul