Details

LOT 0110

Etruscan Bronze Mirror Depicting Two Male Figures

LATE 4TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.

8 7/8 in. (260 grams, 22.5 cm).

Discoid mirror with a short tang to accept an organic handle, the reverse with a palmette above the handle; the obverse with two figures seated on rocks and facing each other, to the right: Turms (Hermes) wearing a winged cap, and a young man on the left, both wearing cloaks draped over their backs, with folds visible over their shoulders and fastened at the neck; Turms depicted making an expressive gesture with his right hand while his companion listens attentively, looking toward Hermes and resting his left hand on his knee; a palmette below at the centre of the scene, two laurel branches extending upwards to form a framing arch around the composition, ending at the top in a geometric ornament.

Provenance

Private collection, Zurich, Switzerland.

Accompanied by a copy of a report by the late Han Jucker (1918-1984), 1 February 1982.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12668-236379.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Literature

Cf. Gerhard-Korte, ES, Vol. I & V (passim) D. Arbia, Le miroir étrusque d'après la collection du Cabinet des Médailles, 1974, pp. 27ff., 43, 89 et seq. H. Fischer-Hansen, Spiegelwerkstätten in Vulci, 1980, Taf. 11 V 27, 12 V 29, 28 V 73 (Turms on the right with Herakles, among others).

Footnotes

Hans Jucker (1918-1984) was a distinguished Swiss art historian and classical archaeologist, renowned for his expertise in Greek and Roman art. He was particularly recognised for his scholarly contributions to the study of ancient sculpture and iconography. Jucker served as a curator and later director at the Bernisches Historisches Museum in Switzerland, where he was instrumental in expanding and refining the museum’s collection of classical antiquities. His research and publications, marked by precision and clarity, helped shape modern understanding of Roman portraiture and the visual language of the ancient world. Through both his academic work and curatorial leadership, Jucker earned a lasting reputation as one of Switzerland’s foremost authorities on classical art.