On: The Mirror Effect: The rise of mirrors in the fifteenth century

[bane]

You can always just look at your reflection in a dark, still, liquid, like soup, or dirty water, or clear liquid in a dark container, etc. Sure you're looking down and it's kind of inconvenient, but it's not like people couldn't see themselves ever.

[thaumasiotes → bane]

Yeah, this was never a secret. The myth of Narcissus has him trapped by his own reflection in a pool of water.

Household mirrors go way back, although the quality of the reflection you could get was well below where it is now.