Can I clean the cloudy bits off the glass?

Those cloudy patches are not dirt on the surface. They sit right at the back of the glass where the original silvering has oxidised and broken down over time. You cannot wipe them away without removing the glass from the frame and chemically stripping the back. Most dealers leave them exactly as they are. The grey spotting is just part of what an antique mirror is.

My living room wall is quite damp in the winter, will hanging a mirror with a wooden backboard against it cause any damage over time?

Damp is a serious problem for these. The soft pine or deal backboards soak up moisture straight from the plaster. Once the wood swells, it puts pressure on the metal clips holding the glass. That tension can easily crack the marginal plates. The moisture will also speed up the degradation of the silvering on the back of the glass. Keep them on dry internal walls. If you have to use an external wall, fix wooden battens behind the mirror to leave an air gap.

How do you replace a broken glass rosette?

You will need to find a specialist restorer. They keep boxes of salvaged parts from old mirrors that were too damaged to save. The restorer will match the diameter, the cut pattern, and the colour of the glass. Sometimes a glassmaker on Murano can cast a replacement if an exact antique match turns up nothing.

I need to transport a rather large one across the country for a house move, what is the safest way to pack the fragile edges?

Never move a large one in a single piece if the crest detaches. Check the backboard for screws holding the top cartouche and the lower apron in place. Once dismantled, wrap each piece in foam and pack them in custom wooden crates. The mirror must travel upright, resting on its longest edge. If you lay it flat, the central plate will bow over every bump in the road and shatter.

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Antique Venetian Mirrors

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Antique Venetian mirrors are frameless looking glasses assembled from overlapping sections of bevelled, etched, and cut glass, originally designed to reflect candlelight across palazzos.