Antique hand mirror3/17/2023 ![]() Until the Venetian craftsmen perfected the art of mirror-making, there was no reliable way of getting glass to remain flat, clear and evenly thick. It wasn’t until the 15 th and 16 th Centuries that the modern method of mirror-making was developed by craftsmen on the Venetian island of Murano, then the prime luxury glassmaking centre in the world. Two similar Venetian glass hand mirrors, both dating from the 16th Century Metal mirrors such as these had been in existence from around 4000 BC, as glassmaking was not yet advanced enough to form the flat, even shapes needed to make glass mirrors.Įven still, metal mirrors would have been reasonably rare and difficult to afford, which is why they would have been placed in such beautiful, elaborately-worked cases. The original mirror for this particular case has been lost to time. What’s perhaps most striking about the piece, however, is that when opened it wouldn’t have contained a piece of mirrored glass like we might expect from a compact, but most likely a flat, polished piece of metal such as copper or tin. It depicts a scene of courtship, with a man and a lady hunting with falcons, and four lions carved around its exterior. The case is beautifully carved from elephant ivory, which would have had to have been shipped all the way from Africa, not an easy undertaking in this era. Mirrors in the Middle Ages were enormously expensive, and the possession of even a small mirror in a case as intricately and elaborately carved as this would have been a clear display of wealth. Measuring only 11cm by 10cm, this small object was the medieval version of today’s compact mirror. ![]() We start in the middle of the 14 th Century, with this incredible handheld mirror. The medieval carved ivory hand mirror, currently on display at the Met Museum, New York Medieval ivory hand mirror, 14 th Century These eight antique mirrors, many of them extraordinary feats of craftsmanship, have been chosen to illustrate the fascinating development of the art of mirror-making over the last 700 years or so. ![]() Here we offer a brief history of the mirror, told through eight antiques. On the contrary: for centuries, mirrors were among the most expensive and desirable objects on the market. The story of the young beauty doomed forever to stare admiringly at his own reflection is one we often tell as a cautionary tale, a lesson about the dangers of vanity.īut the mirror’s long association with the deadly vice of narcissism hasn’t stopped us designing ever more elaborate and opulent ways to see ourselves. The myth of Narcissus is perhaps the oldest and most enduring tale of the power of mirrors.
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