Hellenistic gilt silver mirror-case and mirror with Ino and the infant Dionysus

Hellenistic, c. 3rd-1st century BC
Diameter: 10 cm
 
The circular mirror-case is exquisitely decorated in repoussé relief with the head and upper torso of a young woman in right profile nursing a child. The sinuous vines that encircle them identify the woman as Ino, Sister of Semele, who was celebrated in the late Hellenistic period for her role as surrogate nurse for nephew, the infant Dionysus.
 
UK Private collection, acquired 1950s-1960s and thence by descent