Box Mirror with Relief Head and Crouching Aphrodite

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Box Mirror with Relief Head and Crouching Aphrodite

Place of OriginSouth Italy, possibly Apulia

Dateabout 320 BCE

Dimensionsmirror disc: 5 7/16 × 5 1/2 × 5 1/2 × 3/8 in. (13.8 × 14 × 14 × 1 cm)
cover: 5 3/8 × 5 × 5 1/4 × 1 3/8 in. (13.7 × 12.7 × 13.3 × 3.5 cm)

MediumBronze with solid tin plating.

ClassificationMetalwork

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1966.111A-B

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionA circular bronze box mirror consisting of a reflecting disc and a hinged cover (hinge mechanism now missing). The obverse of the cover features a high-relief repoussé bust of a woman in profile facing left; she features wavy hair swept back from the face, a fleshy neck with "Venus rings," and wears a disc earring. A small perforation exists at the base of the neck. The interior of the cover displays an engraved scene against a tinned, silvery background; the scene depicts a nude female figure (Aphrodite) crouching in profile to the left, wearing a bracelet and a band across her chest, situated in a rocky grotto or cave indicated by schematic lines; to her right is a basin. The reverse of the mirror disc is decorated with a series of turned concentric circles. The interior surfaces show remnants of tin plating intended to imitate silver.

Label TextResembling a modern compact, this hinged mirror was designed to protect the polished bronze reflecting surface inside. The cover is embellished with a high-relief profile of a woman—likely Aphrodite, the goddess of love—created using the repoussé technique, where the metal is hammered from the reverse side.

Opening the case reveals a private, intricate engraving on the underside of the lid: Aphrodite crouching for her bath in a secluded grotto. Technical analysis reveals that the interior was originally plated with tin to simulate the appearance of shimmering silver, adding to the object's luxury. While originally thought to be from Athens, recent research suggests this mirror was crafted in the Greek colony of Taras (modern Taranto) in Southern Italy.

Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art, "Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, new series, vol. 12, no. 4, Winter 1969, repr.

Cooney, John D., "Deluxe toilet objects," Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 60, no. 7, Sept. 1973, pp. 219-221, repr. fig. 8, 9, p. 221.

Schwarzmaier, Agnes, Griechische Klappspiegel: Untersuchungen Zu Typologie Und Stil," Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts Athenische Abteilung, Beiheft, 1997, pp. 15, 46, 47, 132, 135, 136, 156, 191, 195, 212, 279, 300, 331, Taf. 64.1 and 82.2.

Gazda, Elaine K. (ed.), The Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii: Ancient Ritual, Modern Muse, Ann Arbor, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, 2000, pp. 153–154, no. 3, repr.

Exhibition HistoryAnn Arbor, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and The University of Michigan Museum of Art, The Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii: ancient ritual, modern muse, 2000.Comparative ReferencesSee also Richter, G.M.A., A Handbook of Greek Art, London, 1960, pp. 208, 209, figs. 313, 314.

cf. Zücher, Wolfgang, Griechische Klappspiegel, Berlin, Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1932.

cf. Rolley, C., Monumenta Graeca et Romana, vol. 5, Greek Minor Arts, fasc. 1, The Bronzes, Leiden, 1967, no. 171, fig. 171.