A fine large Regency period convex mirror
The original giltwood and composition in the manner of Thomas Hope with ebonized reeded slip. The original circular convex mirror plate with reeded slip bordered by a circular frame with repeating star decoration.
English Circa 1815
Dia : 78cm
Ex : Martyn Cook Antiques, Sydney.
One of the earliest and best-known depictions of a convex mirror occurs in the Arnolfini Wedding Portrait by Jan Van Eyck in 1434. To make a convex plate at this early date probably involved use of the blown method, an extremely skilled and costly process that made such pieces only for very wealthy. It was not until the latter part of the eighteenth century that such mirror plates could be made in a mold, thus allowing a wider scale of production. This more efficient, less costly approach promoted a great fashion for this type of mirror in England and it was widely popular among the high society.