Small Circular Mirror with Relief Decoration of a Bird in Flight with Wings Outstretched
2nd-3rd century
Description
This small circular bronze mirror has a narrow, undecorated outer rim that is deeply beveled. This leads to two circular borders with geometric decor -- the outer border with sawtooth pattern, the inner border with short, radiating lines. The decorative area is lightly sunken and features a bird at the center, partly in relief and partly in thread-relief. A large hemispherical knob sits at the center of the mirror and overlaps the bird's body. There are four small bosses interspersed in the decorated field. The reflecting face has been highly polished.
Dimensions
Diam. 9.2 cm (3 5/8 in.)
Provenance
Edmund Lin (1928-2006; Professor, Harvard Medical School), Boston; by bequest to the Harvard Art Museum
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