A Very Large Early 19th Century Regency Period Convex Mirror
£3,900
SOLD
A magnificent giltwood and ebonised Regency Period convex mirror of large scale, the circular plate set inside a reeded slip, the ball encrusted frame with ebonised riband ties.
This is an unusually large example of a convex mirror. The scale suggests it was commissioned for a magnificent room. It would most certainly have hung above a chimney piece in a grand Neo-Classical interior.
The earliest known reference to convex mirrors is in The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434, by Jan van Eyck (National Gallery London). However, the form is now most closely identified with the Roman oculus (a round opening in a wall) and it became very popular in early nineteenth century furniture design owing to its Classical resonance.
