Chemical Composition: Mirror Disc
XRF data from Artax 1 and Tracer
Alloy: Leaded Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead
Other Elements: iron
Comments: Both sides of the mirror have the same elements.
Handle
XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Leaded Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin, lead
Other Elements: zinc, iron, antimony
K. Eremin, January 2014
Technical Observations: The surface is almost entirely bright white metal. There are areas of green, red, and black corrosion products. The surface, including the reflective polish, is extremely well preserved. Some of the areas of green and red bear blisters and pits, which break through the polished surface. The handle is darker and duller, but it also has a metallic appearance. There is a small loss at the tip of the handle. It does not seem to be a fractured surface; it appears to have been filed and hammered and may be a crude, perhaps ancient, repair of a flaw or a chip loss. The handle is a good fit to the mirror but is held in place with a modern resin.
The mirror was probably cast from a wax model, which was also cast in a fine mold. It is also possible that a refractory mold could have been used for the copper alloy casting without an intermediate wax model. Either way, the fine finishing of the surfaces and concentric decorations were done by revolving the cast piece on a device that allowed abrading, cutting, and burnishing with great precision. Concentric burnish marks are visible on the smooth areas of the back surface and measure c. 0.5 mm in width. If the reflecting surface was burnished, the marks on this side have been polished out to serve better as a mirror. The handle is not finely finished and shows crude scraping and abrasive marks as well as numerous small casting flaws.
Henry Lie (submitted 2012)
