Rybina E.A. On the Finding of a Glass Mirror Rim

Abstract: During the course of the last decades, metal and wooden rims of glass mirrors (more than 340 artefacts) have been found on the sites of different Ancient Rus towns. The depictions on these objects have been published in a separate volume in 2013. In 2015 during the ploughing of a field in the Kirov oblast, 20 km from the town of Slobodskoy, a metal rim with the image of an equestrian figure on the external side and with a floral border around it had been discovered. This design is identical to the design on one of the published decorated rims. This rim was handed to the author of this article by the local ethnographer O. L. Titov. The fabrication particularities and the nature of the image were studied visually, while the composition of the metal was identified on the ArtTAX unit (Röntgenanalysen-Technik). It was revealed that the Kirov rim, despite the similarity in images, is in structure and composition not identical to the rest of the metal rims. Contrary to them, this rim is made from lead and has flaws in its fabrication. This rim, found far away from the area of other similar rims, poses many questions regarding the place and methods of its making, as well as its introduction into the territory of Vyatka.

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