November, 1918 
43 
Queen Anne mirror painted light 
green with Chinese motif in panel. 
Courtesy of R. H. Lehne 
cally a monopoly of the making and 
framing of mirrors. The carving 
details of the frames, therefore, were 
the details of the North Italian Re¬ 
naissance. Many of these frames 
were not only carved, but gilt, or 
polychromed and gilt. As an al¬ 
ternative to wooden frames, there 
were frames over which richly em¬ 
broidered velvet was stretched. 
Although the surface of the glass 
was small, the frame was large in 
comparison and every opportunity 
was taken to make it as imposing as 
possible. The constant intercourse 
between England and Italy, the ac¬ 
tive trade relations, and the influx 
of Italian artisans and craftsmen 
brought a certain number of these 
mirrors across the Channel. Despite 
the fact that the manufacture of mir¬ 
ror glass was attempted on several 
occasions in 16th Century France, 
the efforts were not crowned with 
great success and France, as did 
Spain also, remained chiefly depend¬ 
ent upon Italy for her mirrors and 
their frames. 
Baroque Details 
It was not until the 17 th Century, 
when Baroque influences had be¬ 
come firmly established, that the 
making of mirror glass prospered in 
France and England, and the mak¬ 
ing of mirror frames showed any dis¬ 
tinctly national development in style. 
While the finer mirrors were still 
fetched from Venice, small mirrors, 
square or almost square, with bev¬ 
elled edges, began to be made in 
England about 1615 and were set in 
wooden or in needlework frames. 
Some of these needlework frames 
were elaborately wrought in stump 
work. Slightly after the middle of 
A Neo-Classic design in Italian painted frame and 
gilt. Penna. Museum and School of Industrial Arts 
Late i8th Century Neo-Classic mahogany and 
panel gilt mirror. Courtesy Mrs. Wm. J. Youngs 
ii uitmoot 
.myiD- 
m ■?!&&& . — 
uu.aiuni 
jHiinvs 
Baroque—early Georgian mirror in walnut 
veneer and gilt with Chinese paintings. Lehne 
Ecuadorian mirror of Spanish 
inspiration in gilt and strong na¬ 
tive colors. Mrs. Gerrett Smith 
the century the English mirror frame 
assumed more decorative import. 
Though most of the mirrors were still 
small, and all the larger pieces of 
glass had to be imported from France 
or from Italy, the embellishment of 
the frame elicited serious effort. 
The Restoration Era 
In the Restoration era some of the 
mirror frames were of richly wrought 
silver. In 1670 the establishment 
of the Duke of Buckingham’s glass 
works provided England with a na¬ 
tive supply of large glass and the 
making of decorative mirror frames 
thereupon received a great impetus. 
Grinling Gibbon and his school of 
followers carved frames in high re¬ 
lief or in the round, with ingenious 
and delicate undercutting, using the 
characteristic foliage, flower, fruit, 
and human figure motifs. Ribbon 
scrolls, angels, cockle-shells, strap- 
work and laurel wreathing also oc¬ 
casionally appeared. Walnut, pine 
or lime wood were the best materials. 
Small square mirrors were often 
framed with broad ovolo moulded 
walnut frames, decorated with sea¬ 
weed marqueterie and surmounted 
by a shaped cresting. At the same 
time (the latter part of the century) 
not a few mirrors were framed with 
glass of a different color (often a 
deep rich blue) bevelled at the edge 
and set in metal mounts. These 
mirrors were occasionally in three 
divisions, the central section having 
a rising arched top corresponding in 
line with the hooded furniture. 
The greater lengths of glass now 
obtainable made possible the tall 
Queen Anne mirrors with shaped 
tops. The frames were usually of 
(Continued on page 50) 
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