AROUND HOME : Notes on Fireplace Equipment, Dhurrie Rugs and Mirrors : Mirrors, Mirrors
THE MIRROR HAS always held a particular fascination, ever since Narcissus studied his own reflection in the pool with delight. The ancient Egyptians, the Chinese and the Greeks all used polished bronze mirrors in which to see themselves, and small metal hand-held mirrors were common in Europe during the Middle Ages. They were unbreakable and superior to any glass made at the time.
By the beginning of the 16th Century, however, the Venetian glassmakers at Murano had perfected a more sophisticated technique for producing mirrors. They made glass plates by producing a large bubble of glass that was then elongated. The ends were cut off and the bubble slit in the middle, and it was unrolled to produce a sheet of glass. Silvering was the last step in the process. Mercury was poured over a large sheet of tinfoil, the plate of glass laid on top and the surplus mercury drained away. At a later date, silver was used.
Despite the efforts of the Venetian glassmakers, the secret of their technique spread to the rest of the world and manufacturing began in Germany, Holland, France and other parts of Europe. In England, the Duke of Buckingham established a glassworks at Vauxhall, where his craftsmen were able to produce plate glass up to 3-feet long. The custom of hanging mirrors on the walls of a room dates from this time, and mirrors were produced in larger sizes than the conventional dressing-table mirror: pier glass, for example, and full-length mirrors like the cheval glass. In France, it also became popular to set mirror glass into the wood paneling of a room. The finest of such rooms was the one completed in 1684 when Mansart created the Galerie des Glaces at Versailles for Louis XIV. This enormous room (still beautifully preserved) contains a row of tall arched windows matched by facing spaces lined with more than 300 plates of mirror glass set in gilt-bronze moldings.
The variety of mirrors available to the collector today is almost without end. Frames come in styles reflecting every nuance of furniture design over the centuries--ranging from the rococo of the 18th Century to the neo-classical to the most stark, contemporary styles. Lovely mirrors reflect the decorative thrust of every period: French Provincial, French Empire, Biedemeier, Regency, Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco--the list goes on and on.
Almost every antique shop has interesting mirrors, including: Baldacchino, Quatrain and Palladio in West Los Angeles; Richard Gould in Santa Monica; Richard Yeakel in Laguna Beach; G. R. Durenberger in San Juan Capistrano; Muriel Peterson and Cob Web Antiques, both in San Diego, and J & N Antiques, Bruce Graney and Edward Turrentine, all in Pasadena.