Circular hand and standing mirrors
with decorated handle or mostly figuratively designed stand, made of polished metal, bronze, also silver, existed since archaic times in the Greek and Grecian sphere of influence.
Hand mirrors were already produced in Mycenaean times. In the Etruscans, since Hellenisticism, the hand mirrors were widely used, with engravings of figurative and ornamental representations on the reverse side. In the 5th century B. C. the folding mirror became fashionable in Greece, whose mirror surface was protected by the frequently decorated lid. In ancient times there were also small glass mirrors.
A Kuros, a naked young man, holds the mirror surface with this hand and standing mirror. As a special feature, the circular surface on the back features an erotic motif, a copying pair.
National Archaeological Museum Athens, 470 BC
