CIRCA 525-450 B.C.

Although it is impossible to tell now what the scene would have been on the present lot, one can only guess at how the figures are posed. The faint traces of a horizontal dotted line might suggest a banqueting scene, with the two figures reclining on a couch. In the Archaic period, domestic scenes, including banqueting, music making and dancing were popular motifs on mirrors. The border appears to consist of vines, with clusters of grapes, again, an archaic decoration. For a mirror with a similar departure scene, with a standing figure holding a branch and female figure with head cloth, see acc. no. 1814,0704.915 in the British Museum. For a discussion on archaic mirrors see, N. Thomson de Grummond (ed.), A Guide To Etruscan Mirrors, Florida, 1982, pp. 140-143.