Antique Mirrors: Antique Wall & Overmantel Mirrors
A wide and varied selection of Antique Wall Mirrors, Fireplace Overmantel Mirrors and Period Giltwood and carved Mirrors.
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Stock: 16191
The most charming gilt gesso mirrored hanging shelves. The arched mirror plate is beautifully adorned with ferns, convolvulus and foxgloves that are exquisitely modelled around the frame. The rods supporting the three shelves terminate in foxglove flowerheads.
The shelves embody the Victorian obsession with ferns, in a period known as the 'fern craze'; which saw a widespread fascination in identifying, collecting and cultivating the plant.
English, mid-19th century.
Near pair with stock no. 16190.
Photo before restoration.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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18 1⁄8"
46 cms |
33 7⁄8"
86 cms |
6 11⁄16"
17 cms |
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Listed Price: £1,100 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16184
A very ornate Adam style oval girandole mirror. The gilt gesso frame is adorned with a fan and bellflower decoration very much in the Adam style. The mounted triple girandole sconce is of scrolling foliate form and this is echoed in the surmount, where putti hold sprays of laurel over a floral garland.
English, c.1870.
Provenance: The Grange Goathland.
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Stock: 16471
A Rococo overmantel mirror in gilt gesso, with a moulded frame that has been beautifully gilded and slightly distressed to reveal the warm red bole underneath. This is surmounted by a Rocaille crest.
English, late 19th century.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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41 1⁄4"
105 cms |
64 1⁄4"
163.2 cms |
5 7⁄8"
15 cms |
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Stock: 16486
A striking Napoleon III ebonised and parcel gilt mirror, with a bound laurel frame and acanthus corners enclosing marginal plates. The mirror has a beautifully modelled cartouche and laurel surmount.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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40 5⁄8"
103 cms |
59 3⁄8"
150.8 cms |
3 1⁄8"
8 cms |
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Stock: 16491
A fine Irish Regency convex mirror. The original convex plate is enclosed within a reeded ebony slip, which is bordered by an ornate giltwood ropetwist frame and mounted with acanthus scrollwork and twin candleholders. Most unusually, the surmount depicts a stag resting under an oak tree.
Irish, c.1820.
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Width |
Height |
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24 3⁄8"
62 cms |
38 5⁄8"
98 cms |
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Listed Price: £4,600 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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Stock: 16469
A fine George III giltwood and gesso wall mirror in the Chinese Chippendale style. The rectangular mirror plate is enclosed by a delicate frame embellished with c scrolls and trailing garlands, surmounted by a palm leaf pagoda.
English, c.1765.
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Width |
Height |
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27 3⁄16"
69 cms |
46 7⁄8"
119 cms |
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Listed Price: £7,900 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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Stock: 16317
A very large and grand Victorian Aesthetic Movement gilt gesso overmantel mirror. The top of the mirror is surmounted by a latticed gallery very much in the Aesthetic Movement taste, with a broken pediment. This is mounted over a bold egg and dart moulding, and supported on slender spindle pilasters with foliate capitals, which enclose foliate spandrels and a silvered plate.
English, c.1880.
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Width |
Height |
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62 3⁄16"
158 cms |
71 11⁄16"
182 cms |
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Listed Price: £5,600 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16485
A very fine George III wall mirror, with a delicate giltwood frame embodying the lightness of the Chippendale style, with slender c scrolls, trailing foliage and an elegant crest. The frame encloses a very foxed mercury plate.
English, c.1760.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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28"
71 cms |
46 1⁄2"
118 cms |
2 3⁄8"
6 cms |
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Stock: 16128
A fine gilt gesso George III wall mirror with delicate carving. The intricate frame has fine detailing throughout, including a well carved and delicate crest of foliate form and flowering vines and foliage within a framework of c scrolls.
English, c.1770.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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21 1⁄8"
53.5 cms |
41 1⁄4"
105 cms |
4 1⁄8"
10.5 cms |
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Stock: 16468
A very unusual George III Rococo wall mirror. The giltwood frame is carved with a wonderfully organic design, with foliate flourishes, trailing flowers and fruit, but the most unusual detail being the asymmetrical interlocking c scrolls to the lower portion of the frame.
English, c.1770.
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Width |
Height |
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23 5⁄8"
60 cms |
51 5⁄8"
131 cms |
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Listed Price: £6,800 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16258
A large and ornate gilt gesso Louis XVI style wall mirror with a shield shaped frame,
profusely decorated with a bound laurel decoration, with applied floral swags and surmounted by a torchere and quiver crest.
French, c.1880.
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Width |
Height |
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28 11⁄16"
73 cms |
55 1⁄8"
140 cms |
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Listed Price: £3,200 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16473
A charming eighteenth century wall mirror with an ogee shaped giltwood frame, surmounted by a foliate and floral crest comprising oak leaves and roses. These trail over the scrolled shoulders, the rest of the frame decorated with cross hatching. This encloses a mercury plate.
Southern French, mid-18th century.
Provenance: The contents of The Birches, Kingston-upon-Thames
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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19 1⁄4"
49 cms |
38 3⁄16"
97 cms |
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Listed Price: £4,200 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16187
A very large Victorian gilt gesso overmantel mirror, with ribbed border and floral mounts. The gilding is beautiful, with the warm red bole showing through.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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45 11⁄16"
116 cms |
67 7⁄8"
172.5 cms |
3 1⁄8"
8 cms |
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Listed Price: £3,200 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16470
A pair of ornate French giltwood wall mirrors. The shield shaped frames are ornately worked with acanthus scrolls and enclose marginal plates in mercury glass.
French, c.1800.
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Width |
Height |
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22"
56 cms |
35 13⁄16"
91 cms |
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Listed Price: £2,400 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16442
A large French overmantel mirror with marginal plates. The gilt gesso mirror has a beautifully bronzed patination to the ornate frame, which encloses the original silvered plate, and the slender marginal plates that surround it. The frame itself is surmounted by a floral and foliate pediment.
French, mid-19th century,
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Width |
Height |
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44 1⁄8"
112 cms |
65 3⁄8"
166 cms |
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Listed Price: £5,500 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 15964
A very fine and large giltwood Venetian wall mirror. The frame is surmounted by a floral crest above an oval mirror plate etched with an urn of flowers, and this is supported by foliate scrolls and mirrored spandrels, which are engraved with bunches of grapes. The foliate scrollwork continues around the frame and this encloses eight exquisite marginal plates, each engraved with a slightly different subject, some with a musical theme. The corners are embellished with ruby glass behind an acanthus leaf, and this surrounds the original mercury plate. A very fine and rare mirror.
Italian, c.1790.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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48"
122 cms |
74"
188 cms |
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Listed Price: £9,500 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16436
A fine French Napoleon III parcel gilt gesso overmantel mirror, with a large cartouche surmount surrounded by fruit in high relief. The beautifully moulded frame encloses an arched mirror plate.
French, c.1870.
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Width |
Height |
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57 1⁄8"
145 cms |
66 7⁄8"
170 cms |
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Listed Price: £4,600 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16457
A beautiful Rococo overmantel mirror, with a foliate frame of ogee form and acanthus surmount, the giltwood leafwork reminiscent of John Linnell.
English, c.1860.
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Width |
Height |
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63 3⁄8"
161 cms |
63 13⁄16"
162 cms |
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Stock: 16437
A grand giltwood wall mirror in the manner of Thomas Johnson with a Rococo frame comprising c scrolls and foliate flourishes and surmounted by a ho-ho bird. A detail typical of Thomas Johnson is the inclusion of an animal, and here a goat teeters on a rocky outcrop. Johnson took inspiration from Aesop's fables, and the goat is a creature that featured in several of these tales. Original silvered plate.
English, c. 1870.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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39 3⁄16"
99.5 cms |
64 3⁄16"
163 cms |
5 7⁄8"
15 cms |
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Listed Price: £6,400 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16439
A very fine and large giltwood overmantel mirror. The mirror is Rococo at its most elegant, with an ogee form and embellished with foliate carving to the frame, and crowned by a beautifully carved floral surmount.
Original silvered plate.
English, c.1860.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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70 7⁄8"
180 cms |
72 13⁄16"
185 cms |
8 1⁄4"
21 cms |
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Stock: 16342
An exceptional giltwood Venetian wall mirror. The fine frame has strapwork cresting, pierced sides and apron, the whole carved with rocaille, c-scrolls and floral flourishes, enclosing the original mercury glass mirror plate, which is surmounted by an etched cartouche plate to the crest, decorated with a woman playing a lyre with a pastoral scene.
Venice, c.1780.
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width |
height |
depth |
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48 3⁄8"
123 cms |
63 13⁄16"
162 cms |
2 3⁄8"
6 cms |
| Crest depth |
6 1⁄2"
16.5 cms |
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Stock: 16341
A large and fine cabaret wall mirror, with a deeply cushioned frame, embossed with a foliate decoration on a stippled ground. A really bold piece that would also work well in a contemporary interior.
French, mid 19th century.
An antique Italian gilded mirror.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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41 13⁄16"
106.2 cms |
52 13⁄16"
134 cms |
2"
5 cms |
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Listed Price: £6,500 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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Stock: 16165
A Regency convex girandole giltwood wall mirror in the manner of Thomas Fentham with a reeded ebony slip, surmounted by a spread eagle on a rocky outcrop and flanked by dolphins, with a beautifully modelled hippocampus at the bottom. English, c.1820.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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27 5⁄8"
70 cms |
43 11⁄16"
111 cms |
6 1⁄4"
16 cms |
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Listed Price: £5,500 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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Stock: 16339
A boldly carved 18th century Italian Baroque giltwood wall mirror, with a generous shield shaped giltwood frame comprising foliate scrolls and surmounted by a foliate crest.
Italian, late18th century.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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33 7⁄8"
86 cms |
50 3⁄8"
128 cms |
2 3⁄8"
6 cms |
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Listed Price: £3,800 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16344
A fine and rare pair of 18th century George III wall mirrors with original mercury plates. Each plate is bordered by a giltwood frame of foliate design woven with c and s scrolls, very much in the Chippendale manner.
It is very rare to come across such a fine pair of mirrors of this date.
English, c.1760.
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Width |
Height |
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26 13⁄16"
68 cms |
49 5⁄8"
126 cms |
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Stock: 16294
A fine mid-eighteenth century Venetian giltwood wall mirror. The elegant mirror is profusely decorated with foliate c scrolls in the Rococo manner, with floral flourishes and an elegant finial above an additional mirror plate. With original mercury plates.
Northern Italian, c.1760.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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36 13⁄16"
93.5 cms |
55 1⁄8"
140 cms |
9 1⁄4"
23.5 cms |
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Stock: 16319
A fine George III giltwood wall mirror very much in the Chippendale manner, the fine frame a profusion of c scrolls and stylised foliate decoration naturalistically entwined. Original mercury plate.
Irish, c.1760.
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Width |
Height |
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25 3⁄16"
64 cms |
39"
99 cms |
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Stock: 16318
A fine George III Irish giltwood mirror. The elegant frame is carved with c scrolls and acanthus leaves, with floral garlands to the sides. The frame is surmounted by rocaille motif very much of the English Rococo style.
Irish, c.1760.
View our collection of: Antique mirrors and console tables
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Width |
Height |
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24 13⁄16"
63 cms |
44 7⁄8"
114 cms |
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Listed Price: £7,500 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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Stock: 16303
A fine George III English Rococo period giltwood wall mirror, the frame carved with scrolling foliage and c scrolls. Small but perfectly formed!
English, c.1780
Provenance: the property of connoisseur Michael Godfrey.
View our collection of: Antique mirrors and console tables
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Width |
Height |
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28 1⁄4"
72 cms |
25 3⁄16"
64 cms |
2"
5 cms |
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Listed Price: £3,800 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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Stock: 16129
A fine and large landscape overmantel mirror with both gold and silver gilding, the scrolling foliate frame very much in the Chippendale manner, with slender C scrolls and pagoda elements, embellished with naturalistic acanthus leaves and trailing flowers, surmounted by a foliate crest. Three original silvered mirror plates.
English, mid-19th century.
View our collection of: Antique mirrors and console tables
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Width at the bottom |
Height |
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56 11⁄16"
144 cms |
49 5⁄8"
126 cms |
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Stock: 16101
A very fine early George III giltwood wall mirror in the manner of Thomas Chippendale, the frame with a finely carved scrolling acanthus crest and trailing foliage with the merest suggestion of the pagoda corners associated with Chippendale's designs. Original gilding.
English, c.1760.
View our collection of: Antique mirrors and console tables
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Width |
Height |
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24"
61 cms |
46 7⁄8"
119 cms |
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Stock: 16093
A large and grand pair of gilt gesso Victorian overmantel mirrors. The slender spiral fluted frames are surmounted by eagles on rocky outcrops, situated within a thistle decoration.
Provenance: Runnymede Park, Surrey.
English, c.1850.
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Width |
Height |
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48"
122 cms |
59 13⁄16"
152 cms |
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Listed Price: £9,000 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16079
A 19th century giltwood and gesso framed wall mirror in the Rococo style, with a delicately moulded and scrolling frame of foliate and Rococo design, the mirror plate held with a bound laurel border.
English, c.1880.
View our collection of: Antique mirrors and console tables
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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29 7⁄8"
76 cms |
40 3⁄8"
102.5 cms |
2 13⁄16"
7 cms |
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Stock: 16076
A small neoclassical style gilt gesso wall mirror with marginal plates, surmounted by a broken pediment and and a lidded urn.
French, c.1910.
Provenance:
Property from a private collection of European Decorative Arts
View our collection of: Antique mirrors and console tables
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Width |
Height |
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19 11⁄16"
50 cms |
33 1⁄8"
84 cms |
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Listed Price: £1,400 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 15997
A fine French giltwood wall mirror, the gilded frame carved with scrolls and foliate flourishes over a wide mirrored border.
Southern French (possibly Provence), c.1770 with restorations.
View our collection of: Antique mirrors and console tables
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Width |
Height |
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30 1⁄4"
77 cms |
49 3⁄16"
125 cms |
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Antique mirrors
There is something alluring about an antique mirror - perhaps the combination of a finely carved frame and the shimmering surface of original glass - that has led to their enduring appeal amongst antique furniture collectors.
A short history of antique mirrors
The earliest mirrored glass was made in Murano in the 16th century, where glass was coated in mercury and tin to create a silver reflective layer on its reverse. This process was a closely guarded secret, and spies were sent from the French court of Louis XIV to Venice to discover the process. Their efforts paid off, and the French became renowned producers in their own right. Antique mirrors were made using mercury glass until other safer methods of manufacture became more widely available in the 19th century.
Earlier antique mirrors also tend to be slightly smaller, or made with separate panels of mirrored glass, as there was not the technology to produce single sheets of large glass until the late 18th century. Only the very wealthy could afford very large panes of glass, so mirrors were objects of prestige and magnificence.
Varieties of antique mirror
Whether an antique wall mirror, an overmantel mirror or a pier mirror, it is often the frame that catches the eye. Particularly fine mirrors are carved from mahogany or rosewood, or gilded using gold leaf, rather than paint. Mirror frames tend to be made of carved wood or carved wood and gesso. They are called giltwood mirrors if a thin layer of gold leaf has been applied over the carved and primed surface. Such mirrors exude quality and vary from bright gold through to a more worn, soft patina. An antique gilded mirror is often deemed more valuable than its wooden counterpart and is seen as a timeless addition to interiors of all styles.
Eras of antique mirror
Antique overmantle mirrors embody the elegance of a period home, and can inject both sophistication and character into an interior. Victorian mirrors often come in overmantel form, as in 19th century England, the mantelpiece was the heart of the home, a space to display precious objects and convey taste. The earlier Regency overmantel mirrors were often horizontal in form and more modest in design. Victorian mirrors were not only gilt, but often carved from wood such as oak, mahogany and rosewood.
In France the overmantel mirror was similarly significant, and in many cases, much taller, utilising the space above the fireplace enabled by higher ceilings and grand rooms. These Antique French mirrors are usually gilded, and wood was not widely used without a gilded adornment.
Often smaller, antique wall mirrors are an excellent thing to hang above a piece of furniture or in a hallway, where they can create the illusion of a larger, lighter space. They are less dominant than an overmantel, and serve a function in rooms such as bedrooms or hallways.
If you are looking for an overmantel or any Antique mirrors London is the place to look. Our showroom has numerous options all on display for you to browse, from early Georgian wall mirrors through to large Aesthetic movement overmantels.