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Description: | A complete cast copper alloy Medieval mirror case. The pair of identical shallow circular cases both have a pair of integral lugs at one end and a single lug at the other. They are joined together by a hinge formed by a copper alloy rivet passing though the two lugs of one case and the single lug on the other. On the closing side the same mechanism occurs but without any means of securing the two cases together as none of the lugs are pierced. Both faces of the cases are decorated with punched decoration in the form of an open cross, made up of four arcs divided by a line running between the hinges. This design is found of most of the decorated mirror cases, which suggests that it may have been a standard design. Inside one case is a remaining fragment of a convex weathered dark coloured glass backed with a thin foil of lead, which is now a deep red colour. The glass was held in place by a ring of white material, probably calcium carbonate that was applied as putty. Traces of the white material can be seen inside both the cases, though there is more surviving in the case without the surviving glass. The empty case also has traces of orangey-red cement that may be the presence of a red lead (lead oxide). The external diameter of each case is 31.2mm, the length including the lugs is 43.7mm, the thickness of the complete case is 6.9mm and the weight is 18.13g. Mirror cases first became available in the middle of the thirteenth century until the fourteenth century.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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