Antique French Gilded Mirror | Napoleon III with Mascaron and Garlands, 176 cm

• Structurally inspected
• Furniture ready for use

A 176 cm mirror changes the scale of a wall. If it also has a pediment, the wall gains height.

This antique French mirror was made in the late 19th century, with the repertoire that Napoleon III's Second Empire brought to the salons of Paris. It is gilded with gold leaf and came from an antiques dealer.

The pediment is what sets it apart. In the center, an openwork cartouche with a bouquet of flowers, topped by a shell and open on the sides in acanthus scrolls. In the two corners, a vase with flowers and fruit.

Below, an arched tympanum on a dotted background with a mask in the center. Two garlands of flowers and fruit hang from it over the moon.

The frame has three orders: a smooth half-round on the outside, a frieze of interlocking palmettes on a dotted background, and a beaded border next to the moon. Acanthus leaves in the corners, which end in a scroll below, and a small bouquet in the center of each side.

The ornamentation is not carved. It is paste modeled over the wood and gilded afterwards, as the great French mirrors of the period were made. In the areas of friction, the red bole shows through, the base on which the gold was laid.

The moon is new, placed in our workshop.

The back retains its pine frame, darkened by time, and the iron hanger in the tympanum.

It measures 88 cm wide, 8 deep and 176 high, and weighs 40 kg.

In a living room, hung between two windows or above a console. In a bedroom or dressing room, resting on the floor as a full-length mirror.

Its 88 cm width fits on a narrow wall. At 40 kg, hanging it requires anchoring to a solid wall; on a plasterboard partition, it is better supported.

WHY THIS MIRROR AND NOT ANOTHER

→ The mask. A face among scrolls in the center of the tympanum, from which the two garlands emerge. From afar, the gold is seen; up close, the face appears.

→ The proportion. 88 by 176: exactly twice as high as it is wide. It works hung or supported, and fits where a mantel mirror does not fit.

→ The visible bole. On the feet and in the reliefs that have been touched the most, the red of the base shows through. It is the sign of a gold leaf gilding made as it was back then.

RESTORATION IN OUR WORKSHOP IN NAVALCARNERO, MADRID

In the workshop, the gold leaf was re-laid where it was starting to lift, some losses in the gilding were touched up, and a new moon was placed.

The marks of the gold and most of its losses were not touched, and the wooden frame is the original. Ready to be placed where it belongs.

Style: Napoleon III
Material: Pine wood with paste ornamentation
Technique: Modeled paste and gold leaf gilding
Finish: Original gold leaf gilding, toned down and with occasional touch-ups in the workshop; no color intervention in the workshop
Hardware: Iron hook on the tympanum
Layout: Openwork pediment with cartouche, shell and two vases; tympanum with mask; two garlands above the lunette
Dimensions: 88 cm (Width) × 8 cm (Depth) × 176 cm (Height)
Condition: Good, with marks and losses in the gilding; new lunette
Period: Late 19th century

88 cm (Width) × 8 cm (Depth) × 176 cm (Height)

Free shipping to mainland Spain. Includes indoor delivery with packaging removal.