GREEK BRONZE BOX MIRROR DECORATED IN REPOUSSÉ RELIEF WITH A SCENE OF PAN AND EROS IN ROCKY TERRAIN

The tableau probably depicts the very moment after which the Naiad Syrinx has been transformed into the syrinx (Panpipes). Pan’s lost right hand likely held the pipes, while Eros flees with Syrinx’s discarded chiton to show Aphrodite that Syrinx’s disrespect of the goddess has had its consequence. Tooled guilloche border with silvered details.

Classical Greek, mid–4th Century BC

15.4 cm diameter (6").

Ex: Swiss private collection “Ophiuchus”, amassed 1950s–1980s

#5722

Published: 

Antiquarium, Ltd.; Ancient Treasures XIX. (London, 2020) front cover, p.21

Love, Iris; Ophiuchus collection (Florence, 1989) pp.102-105

Comparandum:

Metropolitan Museum of Art  acc. no. 07.259