Etruscan mirror with Dioscuri and Helen, c.3rd century BC
Bronze
Height: 26.4cm
11734
Copyright The Artist
Further images
The back of the mirror is decorated with an incised scene showing Helen flanked by her twin brothers, Castor and Pollux. They stand before the dokana; a horizontal beam supported...
The back of the mirror is decorated with an incised scene showing Helen flanked by her twin brothers, Castor and Pollux. They stand before the dokana; a horizontal beam supported by two columns. Helen is wearing full length chiton and looks to her right as she lifts a finger to touch a helmet adorned with wings or perhaps plumes. Her brothers, the Dioscuri, wear short tunics and stand with the legs crossed towards one another creating a pleasing symmetry, as their heads turn to face Helen and each lifts an arm to her, one at her front in an imploring gesture, the other behind her back. A laurel wreath around the border stems from a central palmette at the top of the handle. The outer edge of the convex mirror has a thin band of beading, the top of the handle in the form of a stylised deer head. The surface has a pale green patina with areas of encrustation and corroding.
Provenance
Private collection, London, UK; acquired 1973 in Basel, SwitzerlandThomas Howard Sneyd (1940-2010), London, UK
Desmond Keane, Kent, UK; acquired 2005 from the above
