What is an overmantel mirror?

One made to sit above a chimneypiece, broad rather than tall, either rectangular or arch-topped. It's the defining shape of the category, named in 1,905 titles across both spellings. Arch and arched-top terms run to roughly three hundred titles on their own, so the arched profile is a recurring note within the group.

Are gilt mirrors ever signed?

Very seldom. Only one maker name clears the three-dealer threshold across the whole archive, Charles Nosotti, mentioned by six dealers. This is close to an unsigned trade. Listings identify pieces by shape, origin and period instead, so titles tend to read "English 19th century" or "French carved wood and gesso" rather than carrying a name.

Why are so many dated only to the 19th century?

Because that's what the dealer-supplied date field holds. Of 6,465 listings, 3,503 carry a clean year, and the commonest single entry is the broad "19th Century", used 1,675 times. Where decades are given they bunch on the 1880s, 1860s and 1870s, with the 1850s behind them. "Victorian" and "Regency" appear as labels in the same way, covering a span rather than a year.

How common are French gilt mirrors?

Common. "French" appears in 1,670 titles against 930 for English, and 349 titles pair French with the 19th century. Named French styles are commoner than named English ones. Louis Philippe alone accounts for 208 titles, with Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI and Napoleon III turning up besides, along with bistro and cushion mirrors.

Do all gilt mirrors have gold frames?

No. Silver gilt runs to 164 titles, parcel gilt to 212, painted and gilt to 211, ebonised and gilt to 122. All four are established sub-types rather than oddities. Parcel gilt frames leave part of the timber showing, mahogany and walnut most often, so the gilding picks out mouldings and carved detail against bare wood.

How many gilt mirrors are listed each year?

Around 654 a year on Sellingantiques, handled by 300 separate dealers. That makes it one of the broadest-based categories in the mirrors group. The spread runs from small circular convex and oval wall mirrors of the early 20th century up to overmantels past six and a half feet tall.

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Antique Gilt Mirrors

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A wall mirror in a gilded frame, carved wood and gesso or moulded composition, made to hang above a chimneypiece or between windows where the frame did the work and the glass filled it.