Tinned bronze mirrors (Baelo Claudia, Cádiz)

Bolonia (Cádiz). Imperio romano (Sala 19, Vitrina 5)

The necropolis of Baelo Claudia was excavated by Pierre Paris between 1917 and 1921. These two mirrors were restored soon after that by simply reconstructing them, as we can see in the period images.

At the time, it was common practice to assemble unconnected fragments and even add elements from other pieces. In fact, the handle of one of these mirrors has a different inventory number, suggesting that it did not originally belong to this piece.

Years later, the mirrors were subjected to electrochemical treatments to clean them, which not only removed the corrosion but the noble patina as well, exposing the metal core. Nowadays, these techniques are considered to be aggressive and are no longer used in the same way as in the past. In that intervention the old reconstructions were maintained and the organic glues were replaced with epoxy resin, although the additions are not discernible from the original.

The most recent actions have been of a conservational type, aimed at slowing down corrosion and protecting the metal.