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: 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)
More info?
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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)
More info?
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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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Listed Price: £5,800 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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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)
More info?
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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: 16126
A large 19th century Florentine giltwood wall mirror. The frame is boldly carved with acanthus leaves in high relief, and is set with a mercury plate.
Italian, mid 19th century.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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37"
94 cms |
44 11⁄16"
113.5 cms |
4 11⁄16"
12 cms |
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Listed Price: £6,800 (+VAT where applicable)
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Stock: 16300
A large Victorian overmantel gilt gesso mirror. The arched frame is bordered by a bound laurel decoration and floral paterae. This is surmounted by a rocaille decoration and trailing foliage which projects from the arched frame.
Fine original silvered plate in perfect condition.
English, c.1870.
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Width |
Height |
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59 1⁄8"
150 cms |
77 3⁄16"
196 cms |
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Stock: 16338
A fine Louis XVI style gilt gesso overmantel mirror. The egg and dart frame encloses marginal plates and is surmounted by an ornate pediment of scrolling foliate decoration.
Original mercury glass.
French, mid 19th century.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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45 1⁄4"
115 cms |
73 3⁄16"
186 cms |
5 7⁄8"
15 cms |
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Listed Price: £4,800 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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Sold
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: 15748
A delicate Regency gilt gesso landscape overmantel mirror, in the neoclassical style. The frame borders three original silvered mirror plates, that could be replaced for clearer glass if desired.
English, c.1815.
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Width |
Height |
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| External |
51"
129.5 cms |
33 1⁄2"
85 cms |
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Listed Price: £2,200 (+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)
More info?
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Stock: 16362
Large and finely carved Florentine giltwood wall mirror, with a scrolling acanthus leaf frame. A very diverse mirror that can be hung either landscape or portrait.
Italian, Florence, late 19th century.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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45 7⁄8"
116.5 cms |
35 13⁄16"
91 cms |
2 13⁄16"
7 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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Reserved
Stock: 16340
A good 18th century Venetian mirror with original mercury plates. The gilded frame takes a loosely organic form and interprets the French Rococo style, with a rather more traditional frame boldly embellished with organic c scrolls and foliate flourishes.
Venetian, c.1760.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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32 1⁄4"
82 cms |
47 3⁄16"
120 cms |
2 13⁄16"
7 cms |
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Sold
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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Sold
Stock: 16225
A large 19th century French overmantel mirror in the Rococo style. The generous frame has an unusual pie crust edge and is surmounted by a foliate crest in the Rococo manner.
French, mid-19th century.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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38 5⁄8"
98 cms |
70 1⁄2"
179 cms |
5 1⁄2"
14 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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Listed Price: £6,600 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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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.
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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.
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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: 15965
An elegant and simple William IV overmantel mirror with reeded ebony border within a gilt frame, the two columns to each side with foliate bands.
English, c.1830.
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Width |
Depth |
Height |
| Top |
55 1⁄8"
140 cms |
5 11⁄16"
14.5 cms |
27"
68.5 cms |
| Bottom |
51 3⁄16"
130 cms |
4 1⁄8"
10.5 cms |
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Listed Price: £2,600 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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Sold
Stock: 16149
A fine French Louis XVI overmantel mirror, with a simple and elegant egg and dart frame surmounted by a delicate bound laurel wreath and trailing roses. This contains the original bevelled silvered plate.
French, c.1890.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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45 1⁄2"
115.5 cms |
63 3⁄8"
161 cms |
6 1⁄2"
16.5 cms |
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Sold
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.
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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)
More info?
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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.
Awaiting mirror plate replacement.
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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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Listed Price: £6,800 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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Sold
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.
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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: 16125
A rare American giltwood wall mirror by E. F. Caldwell & Co. This finely carved oval mirror embodies the Baroque Revival style, the winged ignudi and other details carved in high relief. This mirror was likely specially commissioned to accompany wall sconces of the same design made by the company, with the addition of three branches.
Original mirror plate.
United States, c.1900.
Notes: See the E. F. Caldwell & Co. Collection, Smithsonian Institution, C012765 to see this model catalogued as three light wall appliques.
Edward F. Caldwell & Co. were America’s preeminent lighting manufacturers of the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries, illuminating some of the most notable buildings in the United States. In addition to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and the White House in Washington, D.C., the company’s masterful light fixtures also adorn the homes of some historically prominent figures, such as J.P. Morgan and Phillip Lehman.
The firm was founded in 1895 by American Edward F. Caldwell and Victor F. von Lossberg from Latvia.
In 1901 Edward F. Caldwell & Co. opened a foundry and quickly rose to the top of the electric light manufacturing business with their shared vision, choosing to deliver quality elegant fixtures that frequently drew on historic European designs. The firm produced magnificent lighting pieces, as well as finely crafted decorative objects and mirrors. Their neoclassical designs borrowed heavily from Baroque and Rococo styles.
View our collection of: Antique mirrors and console tables
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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30 1⁄4"
77 cms |
44 7⁄8"
114 cms |
2 3⁄8"
6 cms |
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Listed Price: £7,600 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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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
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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)
More info?
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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.
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Width |
Height |
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30 1⁄4"
77 cms |
49 3⁄16"
125 cms |
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Stock: 16135
A William IV giltwood rectangular wall mirror with foliate mouldings and foliate cusp half pillars.
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Width |
Height |
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28"
71 cms |
36 3⁄16"
92 cms |
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Listed Price: £2,200 (+VAT where applicable)
More info?
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Stock: 16134
A 19th century gilt gesso sectional wall mirror with a bird, cornucopia and quiver surmount above a beaded and foliate scroll frame, with marginal plates.
English, c.1880.
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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37"
94 cms |
49 5⁄8"
126 cms |
5 1⁄2"
14 cms |
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Sold
Stock: 15890
A fine Regency convex mirror with parcel-gilt frame surmounted by a giltwood foliate crest.
English or Scottish, c.1820.
View our collection of: Antique mirrors and console tables
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Width |
Height |
Depth |
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18"
45.8 cms |
33"
83.8 cms |
2 13⁄16"
7 cms |
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Sold
Stock: 15967
An early nineteenth-century gilt gesso wall mirror surmounted by a lidded urn and oak leaf decoration over a simply moulded frame.
English, c.1810.
View our collection of: Antique mirrors and console tables
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Width |
Height |
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29 1⁄2"
75 cms |
50 3⁄8"
128 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.