Venetian style luxury mirror

Manufacture glass mirrors in Venice date back to the beginning of the Fourteenth century. The patterns on the mirrors, obtained by means of its grinding wheel engraving, feature floral designs or mythological or bucolic figurative scenes. They always have a wooden backboard. After a long study Arte Veneziana created two kinds of Venetian mirror: mirrors with leaves and flowers, drilled mirrors and wood inlay mirrors.

The famous mirrors with leaves and flowers. The engraved mirror is bordered by leaves, flowers, reeds and decorative elements made of glass. All the decorative elements are fixed to the structure by means of special nails whose head is covered by a small vitreous boss. In the most recent models, the fixing of these elements is carried out by making use of screws. The presence of such decorative elements derives from the fact that mirrors and glass manufacturers were in direct contact. Thanks to proximity, there has been a contamination of styles that led to the birth of a characteristic style.

The drilled mirrors. The decorative part of these mirrors is relied to “drilled” elements made of small hand-bevelled mirror pieces. In the past, for the most demanding customers, the drilled mirror was further decorated with enamel, tortoiseshell, nacre or semi-precious stones inserts. Each piece of mirror is fixed through small bosses whose head is visible: in this case, mirrors are previously drilled.