Mirrors with engraved backs are often found in Etruscan tombs. Their style and subject matter shows the influence of Greek culture in Italy. This example belongs to a group of mirrors made around 300BC and known as the ‘Spiky Garland Group’. Around the rim of this mirror is an example of the distinctive spiky foliage that gives the group its name.

The mirror is engraved with a scene taken from Greek mythology. Two youths wearing Phrygian caps are show seated in front of a temple, conversing with two girls. The youths are almost certainly the twins Castor and Pollux (known as the Dioscuri), brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, who often appear on Etruscan mirrors of this period. The imagery of twins was perhaps intended as a play on the function of the mirror.

Provenance: Said to come from a tomb near Naples. Given by Miss Preston around 1900-1905.

Location: Treasury, Gallery 3