Antique Oval Florentine Giltwood Mirror 19th Century 120x92cm

This is a fabulous large 4ft antique Italian Florentine giltwood mirror, Circa 1880 in date.

The oval mirror consists of a superbly carved cresting to the top and bottom, the frieze is decorated with hand carved floral and foliate motifs with beautiful original gilding, and the mirror plate is bevelled.

This is a very decorative item which will look amazing in any room and can be hung portrait or landscape.

Condition:

In excellent original condition, please see photos for confirmation of condition.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 120 x Width 92 x Depth 6

Dimensions in inches:

Height 3 foot, 11 inches x Width 3 foot x Depth 2 inches

Florentine frames made in Florence are a centuries-old tradition maintained by several artisan guilds. Florentine items produced in from the mid-19th century onward, typically reflect a contemporary interpretation of Renaissance art and furnishings. They have an ornate appearance, and are typically gold gilded, or have gold paint applied to resemble gilding.

Mirrors

are commonly used for personal grooming or admiring oneself (in which case the archaic term looking-glass is sometimes still used), decoration, and architecture.

The earliest manufactured mirrors were pieces of polished stone such as obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass. In classical antiquity, mirrors were made of solid metal (bronze, later silver) and were too expensive for widespread use by common people; they were also prone to corrosion. Due to the low reflectivity of polished metal, these mirrors also gave a darker image than modern ones, making them unsuitable for indoor use with the artificial lighting of the time.

The method of making mirrors out of plate glass was invented by 16th-century Venetian glassmakers on the island of Murano, who covered the back of the glass with mercury, obtaining near-perfect and undistorted reflection. For over one hundred years, Venetian mirrors installed in richly decorated frames served as luxury decorations for palaces throughout Europe, but the secret of the mercury process eventually arrived in London and Paris during the 17th century, due to industrial espionage. French workshops succeeded in large scale industrialization of the process, eventually making mirrors affordable to the masses.

Our reference: A3440