Provenance Information

[Prior to 1990, reportedly with Heidi Vollmoeller, Galerie Heidi Vollmoeller, Zurich, Switzerland]; purchased by Athanasios Ghertsos, Greek Consul in Zurich, from Galerie Heidi Vollmoeller; ca. 1990, purchased by Frieda Tchacos Nussberger from Athanasios Ghertsos; [ca. 1990-1993, with Frieda Tchacos Nussberger, Gallerie Nefer, Zurich]; 1993, purchased by Thomas A. and Colette Spears from Frieda Tchacos Nussberger; 1993-2011, collection of Thomas A. and Colette Spears, New York; from 1999, on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art; acquired in 2011, gift of the family of Thomas A. Spears.

Exhibition Information

The work has been on loan to The Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1999 and on display since 2000.

Publication Information

Hemingway, Seán A. and Dr. Joan R. Mertens. 2012. "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 2010-2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 70(2): p. 10.

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Cumulative facts and circumstances

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

This mirror has provenance established to before 1990. It has been loan since 1999 and on display in the Greek galleries since 2000. Bronze caryatid mirrors occupy a special place in Greek art on a small scale because they are often very fine pieces of three-dimensional sculpture that can be related to monumental stone counterparts. The Spears example is a major addition to the Greek and Roman Department’s collection of Greek bronzes, and specifically of Archaic and Classical caryatid mirrors.