Skip Navigation

Mirror

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Early Dynasty 18 metalworkers continued the Middle Kingdom tradition of making mirrors with handles in the form of papyrus plants capped by heads of Hathor, a cow-eared goddess associated with love and music. The slender proportions of the drooping papyrus and the goddess's delicate facial features identify this example as an early Eighteenth Dynasty work.

MEDIUM Bronze
  • Reportedly From: Aswan, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1539–1478 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY early Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 10 15/16 x 5 7/16 x 7/8 in. (27.8 x 13.8 x 2.3 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.638E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Mirror and handle, both of bronze. The handle is in the form of a column with terminal in the form of a double Hathor head. Rising from the head is a highly elongated and curved papyrus umbel. Condition: Single rivet through tang. Surface of mirror much scratched and rubbed. Handle rubbed and some of the details obscured. Tang chipped.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Mirror, ca. 1539–1478 B.C.E. Bronze, 10 15/16 x 5 7/16 x 7/8 in. (27.8 x 13.8 x 2.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.638E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.638E_front_PS4.jpg)
    IMAGE front, 37.638E_front_PS4.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2014
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.