Antique English Pieces 13

Gilding continued in fashion, and mirrors appeared in frames of pinewood brightly gilt and carved flatly in gesso—a type of plaster composition which could be carved and smoothed and took the gold-leaf in a satisfactory manner. By 1735-40 taste had changed once more, and large mirrors of severe design with tall rectangular glasses were appearing on fashionable walls.

Mirror frames were the object of great attention from carvers and gilders throughout the eighteenth century; the most elaborate examples of their work came in the middle years. Then, fashion allowed them to incorporate what they pleased on the frame: shepherds and shepherdesses, Chinese gods, waterfalls, sea-shells, ruined temples and bouquets of flowers vie for attention on some of the extreme examples, which are masterpieces of the carver's art. Following these exuberances, came the more restrained style set by the Adam brothers. Frames were then often oval in shape, and embellished with honeysuckle, husks and winged seated griffins. At the end of the eighteenth century, the frame was even more plain, and the most popular ones had the glass flanked by a column at either side, and sometimes with a painting on glass at the top.

Although it had been known for many hundreds of years, the circular convex mirror was not widely popular until early in the nineteenth century, when many examples were made. Most of them had a moulding of ebony surrounding the glass, a deeply moulded gilt frame decorated with gilt balls, and an eagle with outstretched wings at the top. The eagle often holds a chain with a gilt ball at the end of it, and many of the mirrors have arms for holding candles, the best examples fitted with hanging cut-glass drops.

Small mirrors on stands for use on the dressing table—toilet mirrors—were framed in silver, and often with needlework. Those supported on uprights and a base fitted with drawers were introduced about 1700. Many were veneered with walnut, or lacquered. Mahogany examples, of late eighteenth-century date, are often inlaid and fitted with oval or shield-shaped mirrors. In about 1800, the mirror became oblong in shape, horizontal instead of upright, due 10 changing fashions in hairdressing, and the uprights supporting it were turned instead of square or moulded.

About 1790, cheval mirrors, large dressing mirrors on movable stands with casters, came into use. Most of them have frames of mahogany, but sometimes they are of rosewood or satinwood.

English Pieces

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