An Early 19thC Italian Ebonised Wall Mirror
SOLD
Origin: Italian
Period: Early 19thC
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1800
Height: 13.25”
Width: 10.25”
The distressed but beautifully evocative wall mirror, retaining the original mercury glass rectangular mirror plate now beautifully foxed, to an ebonised frame , the whole surviving from the first quarter of nineteenth century Italy.
The mirror is in decorative and distressed condition and is attractive in its originality and the fact it has not been meddled with. The original mercury glass plate is very worn and bare in places, please refer to the photographs for a full visual reference. It has fixings so it can be hung both in portrait or landscape. There appears to be a small fracture to the upper left corner.
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the development of decorative mirrors in Italy. The cylinder process, where cylinders of glass were blown then split open and laid flat, had some limitations meaning that only small plates could be made, so several pieces of glass would be used to create a single mirror.
An achingly beautiful reminder of the passing of time; now more of a shimmering picture than a looking glass.
Period: Early 19thC
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1800
Height: 13.25”
Width: 10.25”
The distressed but beautifully evocative wall mirror, retaining the original mercury glass rectangular mirror plate now beautifully foxed, to an ebonised frame , the whole surviving from the first quarter of nineteenth century Italy.
The mirror is in decorative and distressed condition and is attractive in its originality and the fact it has not been meddled with. The original mercury glass plate is very worn and bare in places, please refer to the photographs for a full visual reference. It has fixings so it can be hung both in portrait or landscape. There appears to be a small fracture to the upper left corner.
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the development of decorative mirrors in Italy. The cylinder process, where cylinders of glass were blown then split open and laid flat, had some limitations meaning that only small plates could be made, so several pieces of glass would be used to create a single mirror.
An achingly beautiful reminder of the passing of time; now more of a shimmering picture than a looking glass.
