Etruscan mirror with Dioscuri and Helen, c.3rd century BC
Bronze
Height: 26.4cm
11734
Copyright The Artist
£ 18,000
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
