A Bronze Etruscan Mirror Depicting the Judgment of Paris, by the Boxy Peplos Engraver, c. 3rd C. B.C.E.
The undecorated side of this bronze mirror would have originally had a highly polished bright metallic surface, but is now heavily corroded. The mirror was broken into three fragments and the surface was covered with extensive painted "fake" green corrosion and discolored wax and varnish layers. The painted corrosion and wax and varnish layers may have been added to make the mirror appear more ancient, and therefore perhaps more likely to be bought by a collector. The goal of the conservation treatment was to reconstruct the mirror from the three fragments and remove as much of the unstable "true" corrosion, the painted "fake" corrosion and the coatings as possible.
Images courtesy of the Molnar Collection, University of British Columbia. Photographs by S. Balachandran.
Left image: A view of the front, before treatment. The bronze mirror was broken into three fragments and covered in both true and painted "fake" corrosion. Shiny and discolored wax and varnish coatings had been thickly applied to the surface.
Right image: A view of the back, before treatment.
Left image: Detail of the front image, before treatment. During the conservation treatment, it was discovered that the smallest fragment is actually a relatively recent restoration. It is a different copper alloy that has been painted gold and covered with green and black paint to simulate corrosion.
Right image: Detail of the back, before treatment.
Left image: After re-adhering the fragments together with an acrylic resin, and removing corrosion products, painted "fake" corrosion and wax.
Right image: Detail of the back, showing the Japanese tissue paper repairs adhered in place with an acrylic resin. These paper repairs were not inpainted as the back will not be visible to viewers. Furthermore, they will be easy to remove if that is desired in the future.