Object Name
Roman hand mirror
Object Age
Roman (1,875 to 1,825 years old)
Description
This fine example of a Roman hand mirror is one of many items discovered at the site of a Roman cemetery at Sedgeford outside Whitchurch in the 1970s. The mirror is made from speculum (a tin and copper alloy) and has 68 countersunk holes drilled around the edge for decoration. The surface is highly polished to make it reflective.
It is thought to have been made in the Netherlands sometime between 125-175 A.D. The mirror was found alongside the cremated remains of a mother and child placed within a pottery flagon. Also included in the grave were the remains of two joints of meat, one pork and one venison and a coin, possibly to pay the ferryman to take their souls to the underworld. Seventy-two nails mixed in with the cremated bone represent the remains of the cremated coffin. When the mirror was excavated its surface was covered with a thin layer of rotten wood. This is thought to be the remains of the mirror's oak case.
The Whitchurch Roman mirror is currently on display at Whitchurch Heritage Centre. A second fine example of a Roman mirror found at Wroxeter can be seen at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery.