This museum pictorial showcases and expands upon, a selection of bronze mirrors which are on permanent display at Kendal Museum, Cumbria, along with collated examples from museum digital collections. The degraded surface of the ancient mirrors have absorbed and reflected the image of countless visitors to the museum.

Prior to being displayed at Kendal Museum, the mirrors have been passed between many different hands: including museum curators, conservators and archaeologists, along with makers and users from past civilisations. Punctuating the images are short descriptions of incised, decorated mirrors. These texts illustrate artefacts from many different ages, making reference to the human figure, expressions and gestures. The descriptions evoke familiar images of human ancestry. The texts can also be interpreted as depictions of past users and makers: fleeting reflections captured by the artefacts.

Author: Kate Morrell
Year: 2015
Pages: 32
Dimensions: 14.8 x 21 cm
Cover: Softcover
Language: English