Antique Victorian Giltwood Oval Cushion Mirror 19th C 123x96cm

A finely carved antique Victorian  oval margin plate giltwood mirror, circa 1860 in date.

The bevelled mirror plate is set within a bead and husk giltwood frame with acanthus decoration and surmounted by a flower-filled basket. The gilding in excellent original condition.

This mirror is a very decorative item which will look amazing and enhance the look of any room.

Provenance:

Private collection, Aberdeenshire

Condition:

In excellent condition, the frame having its been beautifully cleaned and waxed in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 123 cm x Width 96 cm x Depth 14.5 cm

Dimensions in inches:Height 4 foot x Width 3 foot, 2 inches x Depth 6 inches

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.

Giltwood

There is no doubt that giltwood furniture is an expression of grandeur and luxury. The golden hue of these pieces comes from the application of real gold leaf—a highly valued material both then and now. When it comes to buying antique giltwood furniture for your collection, there are many different considerations to keep in mind, many of which come down to personal preference.

Origins of Giltwood

The gilt gesso technique appeared in England at the end of the seventeenth century with the work of Jean Pelletier, a Huguenot craftsman who received royal patronage at Hampton Court and Kensington Palace. James Moore, a royal cabinetmaker working in the early eighteenth century, expanded on this technique with increased drama and exaggeration to the carving. Throughout the Georgian era in the eighteenth century, gilded furniture was highly prized as some of the finest furniture available as it emulated the ever popular taste for French style and décor.

The Technique

Gesso is a type of plaster that is prepared of finely ground chalk, applied onto the wooden surface in a series of layers—at least fifteen layers were needed to achieve the desired thickness. Once dried, the craftsmen could cut into the new surface to create different designs.  When the designs were complete, the gilding could be applied. To gild the surface, a red clay ground, known as bole, would be spread onto the surface to prepare for the laying of the gold leaf.

Our reference: A5128