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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1986.658
Title
Fragment of a Box Mirror Relief with Two Figures
Classification
Mirrors
Work Type
mirror cover
Date
third quarter 4th century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Classical period, Late, to Early Hellenistic
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303941

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Repoussé
Dimensions
12 x 7.5 cm (4 3/4 x 2 15/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, iron
K. Eremin, January 2014

Technical Observations: The patina is predominantly green with spots of red cuprite. The thin bronze fragment is almost entirely corroded. Several structural cracks are present. A few areas of corroded lead reinforcement remain on the reverse. Tool marks on the obverse surfaces appear to be modern. Modern synthetic and glass fiber reinforcement, part of a previous conservation treatment, unfortunately obscures most of the reverse surfaces.

The metal appears to have been heavily worked by hammering, specifically repoussé and chasing. Cracks in the metal may be a result of the stress due to heavy working combined with expansion of corrosion from the lead backing. The small bronze rod protruding from the seated figure’s proper left hand was probably made separately and is now held in place by corrosion products that unfortunately obscure any evidence of how it was originally attached.


Carol Snow (submitted 2002)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Marian H. Phinney Fund
Accession Year
1986
Object Number
1986.658
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This fragment of repoussé relief, probably from a box mirror, depicts a nude male figure seated facing to the left and the upper part of a draped female figure standing behind him. The top of his head and the left eye, the upper part of his left arm, his right thigh, and the lower parts of his legs are missing. His head is modeled almost in the round, with curls of hair rising on either side above his forehead. His nose is large; his mouth has full lips. At the edge of the break, on the left side of his head, is the base of an ear. A smaller, concave pointed ear is visible on the right side of the head, as seen from the front of the head. The presence of the pointed ear identifies the youthful figure as a young satyr. He raises his right arm and seems to gesture, holding up his second and third fingers. His left hand, which rests on top of his left leg, holds a separately fashioned bronze rod; the rod projects under his forearm, which is broken and missing. The satyr sits on a wavy mass of deeply modeled drapery.
The female figure’s head and lower body are missing. Her torso, framed between the youth’s head, right arm, and upraised right hand, is clad in a himation draped diagonally across her left shoulder. Her chiton has a V-shaped neck.
This figural fragment may have belonged to the cover of a box mirror, to a piece of body armor, or to the left cheek piece of a helmet. The pose and powerfully modeled anatomy of the satyr bring to mind the seated Dionysos on the Derveni krater. The date probably lies somewhere in the third quarter of the fourth century BCE. It may have been created in a Thessalian or Macedonian workshop.

David G. Mitten

Publication History

  • Agnes Schwarzmaier, Griechische Klappspiegel: Untersuchungen zu Typologie und Stil, Gerbüder Mann Verlag (Berlin, 1997), p. 269, no. 86.

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu