AN ETRUSCAN BRONZE MIRROR
This lot is offered without reserve. These lots h… Read more
AN ETRUSCAN BRONZE MIRROR

CIRCA 525-450 B.C.

Details
AN ETRUSCAN BRONZE MIRROR
CIRCA 525-450 B.C.
8 in. (20 cm.) long
Provenance
Elsa Bloch-Diener collection, Bern, acquired prior to 1983.
Special notice
This lot is offered without reserve. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Lot Essay

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.

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