Mirror Back with Great Goddess

400–550 CE
Overall: 20.1 x 0.2 cm (7 15/16 x 1/16 in.)
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Did You Know?

This ancient Teotihuacan mirror may have been used in divination rituals.

Description

An important female deity commands the watery scene on the back of this mirror. The face, bordered by ear ornaments and partially hidden by a nose ornament, appears beneath a huge headdress with the fringed eyes and curled proboscis of an abstract butterfly. The deity rests on a shell-studded water band and two adoring humans offer flowers or incense in a bag. Mirrors served as costume ornaments and perhaps were used in rituals to divine the unknown.
Mirror Back with Great Goddess

Mirror Back with Great Goddess

400–550 CE

Guatemala(?), Escuintla, Teotihuacán style, Classic Period

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