Touch the ancient world – own a piece of history – but remember it belongs to all humanity
Touch the ancient world – own a piece of history – but remember it belongs to all humanity
$250.00
Cast as one piece. Disc-frame with side-handle, decorated entirely with geometric design in relief: beaded outer and inner circumferences, with concentrical circles between. Junction with the handle covered with cross-hatched lines. There is fragment of glass preserved in a slot in the frame. Handle is broken in several places and mended. D. 1.7″ (4.3 cm), H. 3″ (7.6 cm).
It seems that the presence of the glass indicates a different approach to achieve a highly reflective surface: instead of polishing metal, glass was chosen ( inner face coated with a layer of tin, which was then polished thoroughly). Or perhaps, the impractical size of this mirror and the choice of led allowing to assume its cultic function, in such case reflecting surface could be symbolic.
See similar mirrors: Fremersdorf F. Die Denkmäler Des Römischen Köln. 1984, Köln, cat. 244-246.