The circular bronze mirror is decorated with the scene of an amorous couple and a winged female figure, a Lasa, or the winged female figure, Zipna. An incised inscription to the left and along the extended left wing of the figure may identify her as such. The central female figure, likely the Etruscan goddess of love, Turan, the Etruscan equivalent of the Greek Aphrodite, reaches up with her right hand to embrace the head of a short-haired, beardless youth. He is nude, and his himation or cloak is draped over his left arm, with his left hand resting on his hip. With his right hand he appears to be fondling his erect penis, which is prepared for penetration, being so close to the genital area of the female figure before him.

Bronze hand mirrors of this type are characteristically Etruscan. Made from the 6th to the 1st centuries B.C. , the scenes that decorate them demonstrate the development of Etruscan art and provide great amounts of information regarding their everyday life and religious beliefs, since the scenes often focus on daily life, religion, and mythology. Some mirrors show Greek myths and others depict purely Etruscan myths or a mixture of both. The wealth of information conveyed by mirrors makes them an invaluable resource comparable to Greek vases. Occasionally, the name or names of figures are inscribed, as on this mirror, which conveys important information regarding the Etruscan alphabet and writing. The mirrors reflecting disc, on the side opposite the decorated disc, was highly polished to give a sharp, detailed image. Most discs were slightly concave, so that when the mirror was held at arm’s length much of the upper body would have been in view. While men may have used these mirrors, there is a greater body of evidence that Etruscan mirrors were created primarily for women. Presumably mirrors may have been used by men in antiquity for shaving, for arranging their hair, and for general grooming. Engraved Etruscan mirrors seem to begin about 530-520 B.C., just about the time when Etruscan men started to discard the fashion of having a beard, a custom that had prevailed in their culture from the Orientalizing Period in the 7th century B.C.

All e-Tiquities have been searched in the Art Loss Register database.