Details

LOT 0687

Roman Decorated Votive Lead Mirror

2ND-3RD CENTURY A.D.

4 1/4 in. (43 grams, 11 cm).

With ribbed handle, discoid plate with raised rib to one face, running scrolls to the other, lateral struts.

Provenance

Ex German art market, 2000s.
Acquired from an EU collector living in London.
From the collection of Surrey, UK, gentleman.

Literature

Cf. Spasić Durić, D., Град Виминацијум-The city of Viminacium, (in Serbian), Pozarevac, 2015, fig.78, for similar.

Footnotes

Many examples of this category from the Danube region were found in female graves, where they possibly served as grave goods considered appropriate for their connection with general issues of fertility, good fortune, and beauty, or even as protective amulets. Since lead mirror frames have been found in this Roman province only in graves of women, it is probable that these miniature mirrors, fitted with a central glass, were expected to serve as ritual or magical tools to assist souls of dead women in the afterlife.