How many come up for sale each year?

Around 66 reach the market on Sellingantiques in a year, and 135 different dealers have listed one. That spread matters. This is a category almost any general dealer handles rather than the preserve of a few specialists.

What period are most of them?

The dealer-supplied dates run from 1750 to 1950. The 1860s and 1870s together account for more of the dated listings than every other decade combined. One in three listings is dated only to the 19th century rather than to a decade, so the century label carries a lot of weight. Victorian, Regency, Georgian and Edwardian are used just as loosely. Eighteenth-century pieces and mid-20th-century Art Deco or 1930s frames appear only as scattered singletons.

Are gilded frames solid gold leaf on wood?

The gold is leaf, and what sits under it varies. Giltwood means the ornament is carved in the timber and gilded; gesso means a plaster-like ground was laid over wood first, then gilded. Many frames combine both, which is why the phrase carved wood and gesso turns up so often. Water gilding, gold leaf on a wet-sized gesso ground that can be burnished, is named once.

Do mantle mirrors come in pairs?

Very seldom. Only three pairs appear across the samples. Two of them are Georgian or Italian giltwood, and both sit at the very top of the range.

What sizes do they run to?

From small hanging mirrors up to architectural pieces over two metres. Two in five titles use the word large. The biggest to state its measurements in a title is 230 by 189.5cm, and another gives its height as 79 inches.

Which makers are found on these frames?

No maker or workshop stands behind this category. The names that do appear in titles come from single listings rather than any pattern. What listings identify instead is material, form and origin: gilt over gesso, carved wood, triple plate, arch top, English or French.