A Louis XIV Giltwood Mirror, 17th Century Circa 1660-1699

Louis XIV period mirror in carved linden wood and gilded with leaf, rectangle quadrilateral shape in principal, augmented by a trilateral pediment, pyramidal. The very openwork pediment is composed of a more floral decoration, where rose, daisy and other peony rub shoulders with foliage and twigs in an ovoid vase decorated with lotus. Mainly the domed frame with reserves is covered with a decoration of plant winding alternating with florets and plumes. Each of the four angles is flanked by a spandrel from which emerges at an angle towards the center an acanthus leaf in a cartridge of leafy windings. The ice and the reserves consist of a flat glass plate lined with tin and lead immersed in a mercury bath in order to dissolve them there. The tin associated with the lead then giving this warm and luminous side to the mirror called "mercury". On the back, the frame of the frame is locked at each of its angles by a key, the sheet of ice is lined with a maritime pine sole which fits into the interior rabbet of this same frame; traditional technique of assembling the decorative arts of the great century. Technique which associated with the general decoration places us in the second period of the reign of the great monarch between 1660-1699 at the height of his reign, the period of decorative arts known as: Louis-quatorzien. Period which is distinguished by the search for the grandiose to the emphasis, by the perfect symmetry of the patterns in the execution including gilded wood. Dimensions: Height 72cm - width 37cm.