With our absolute highest compliments Bay Colony Antiques takes the utmost pleasure in offering this wonderful antique mirror. We recently took this mirror off of the wall of a New England household which was full of antique treasures from the past three centuries. Towards the end of the 18th century and into the first quarter of the 19th century, at the height of the American Federal period, these giltwood mirrors were highly prized by the public particularly in New England where most homes had a few to speak of. Before modern lighting colonial era homes would rely on these mirrors to take candlelight or daylight and spread it through the darker areas of the interior. As methods of glass working improved in the 18th century mirrors became less of a luxury only found in grand homes to something most households could afford and access.
This mirror is believed to be made in New England during the earliest part of the 19th century. The giltwood frame is the product of a highly skilled artisan with embellishments such as stylized lyre cabochons executed in stunning detail. Each corner of the frame is fitted with an interested cabochon element commonly referred to as a bullseye. The frame is fashioned with half columns which feature turned ringlets and decorative elements that resemble small drinking vessels. The original mirrored glass tablet has remained in excellent condition with centuries of silvering and oxidation being readily visible on the glass surface. This aging is a natural process which true antique glass undergoes after centuries of exposure to sunlight and atmosphere. Above the glass tablet is a wonderful antique oil on canvas depiction of a coastal area featuring a ship sailing over turbulent waters during a storm. This painting may have been included to replace an eglomise glass panel however it works so well with the mirror it's difficult to imagine the mirror without it. The back of the mirror reveals a single hand planed wooden backboard secured with hand cut antique iron nails in the exact condition any collector would expect to find. The mirror measures 16 1/4" wide x 32" tall x 2" deep. The sight size of the painting is 10 1/8" wide x 8 7/8" tall. The sight size of the glass is 10 1/8" wide x 16 1/2" tall.
