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Source Description
This superb mirror has an oval disk and a handle in the form of a nubile young girl, entirely naked except for her elaborately braided tripartite wig, broad collar, and a girdle of wallet beads. She stands on a cruciform base, with her left foot slightly advanced and her hands at her sides. On her head and supporting the disk is a papyrus umbel with flaring tips. Mirrors with handles in the form of naked young girls were the height of fashion in mid-Dynasty 18; numerous examples exist. This mirror is perhaps the finest of its kind. The cruciform base is unusual, if not unique. The iconography is understandable in relation to the goddess Hathor, the embodiment of love and beauty. A multifaceted goddess, she was equated with Aphrodite by the Greeks. The retinue of Hathor consisted precisely of such beauties, called <em>nefrut</em> in Egyptian, and the mirror itself, that reflection of beauty, appears to have had Hathorian connections from early times.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
151352
label
Caryatid Mirror
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
151352
contentType
object
title
Caryatid Mirror
description
This superb mirror has an oval disk and a handle in the form of a nubile young girl, entirely naked except for her elaborately braided tripartite wig, broad collar, and a girdle of wallet beads. She stands on a cruciform base, with her left foot slightly advanced and her hands at her sides. On her head and supporting the disk is a papyrus umbel with flaring tips. Mirrors with handles in the form of naked young girls were the height of fashion in mid-Dynasty 18; numerous examples exist. This mirror is perhaps the finest of its kind. The cruciform base is unusual, if not unique. The iconography is understandable in relation to the goddess Hathor, the embodiment of love and beauty. A multifaceted goddess, she was equated with Aphrodite by the Greeks. The retinue of Hathor consisted precisely of such beauties, called <em>nefrut</em> in Egyptian, and the mirror itself, that reflection of beauty, appears to have had Hathorian connections from early times.
date
c. 1540–1296 BCE
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60777976
genreSpecific
Cosmetic Objects
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 38.9 x 20 cm (15 5/16 x 7 7/8 in.); Figure: 16.7 x 4 cm (6 9/16 x 1 9/16 in.); Disk: 16.6 cm (6 9/16 in.)
cul
Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18
accession
1983.196
Source extras
tec
bronze with black copper inlay?
tombstone
Caryatid Mirror, c. 1540–1296 BCE. Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18. Bronze with black copper inlay?; overall: 38.9 x 20 cm (15 5/16 x 7 7/8 in.); figure: 16.7 x 4 cm (6 9/16 x 1 9/16 in.); disk: 16.6 cm (6 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 1983.196
collection
Egypt - New Kingdom
didYouKnow
When they were made, this mirror was polished to a brilliant shine; the marvelous colored patina it has since acquired is the result of being buried for years in the ground.
citations
citation
Turner, Evan H. "Year in Review for 1983." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 71, no. 2 (1984).
page_number
p. 45
citation
Kozloff, Arielle P. "Mirror, Mirror." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 71, no. 8 (1984).
page_number
pp. 271-6, cover, figs. 3-4
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Images of the Mind.</em> Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1987.
page_number
Reproduced: [p.16]
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 4
citation
J. Paul Getty Museum, and Getty Conservation Institute.<em> In the Tomb of Nefertari: Conservation of the Wall Paintings.</em> [Malibu, Calif.]: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1992.
page_number
No. 10
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Masterpieces from East and West. </em>New York, NY: Rizzoli International, 1992.
page_number
p. 16
citation
Edward H. Merrin Gallery, Vicki Solia, and Linda Schildkraut. E<em>gypt at the Merrin Gallery.</em> New York: Merrin Gallery, 1992.
page_number
no. 2
citation
Kozloff, Arielle P. <em>Egypt’s Dazzling Sun: Amenhotep III and his world.</em> Cleveland : Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1992.
page_number
Reproduced: fig. 84a, p. 358
citation
Berman, Lawrence M. " La Collection Egyptienne du Cleveland Museum of Art," <em>Bulletin de la Société française d'égyptologie </em>134 (October 1995).
page_number
p. 28, fig. 9
citation
Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač.<em> Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999
page_number
Reproduced: p. 301, Color p. 56; Mentioned: p. 301-302
creditline
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:49:08.292000
sourceId
151352
dept
Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
coll
Egypt - New Kingdom
med
bronze with black copper inlay?
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
69bfcc93656c339a