Fourth Floor Walk Up

My living room

Mirrors have long been a great decorative element within any space and playing with their shape and size just adds a bit more character.  A few years ago i purchased my first circular convex mirror, I was so happy to find one at a great price – I think it was around $70!  I have received many compliments on it since and I really think it fits well within the space between my windows.  I’m thinking in the future of painting it black and gold, similar to the ones that follow within this post.

Jan Van Eyck – Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife

During my shopping research, I also learned a little bit about the history of these mirrors.  Apartment Therapy wrote a great post the history of the convex mirror.

The convex mirror has, in fact, gone in and out of style since the Eighteenth Century, when glassmakers in Louis XIV’s France figured out how to press plate glass into large flat mirrors (making possible the famous Hall of Mirrors at Versailles). Before that era, only the Venetians knew how to make flat mirrors — mirrors were otherwise blown by hand — and convex mirrors seem to have served the expected decorative function of adding light and reflection to interiors. Painters would also use the convex mirror as a tool of perspective. Jan van Eyck’s famous 1434 Arnolfini portrait (Image 1) contains the first known image of a convex mirror, included in part to show off the technical skill it took to reproduce the distorted reflection. The mirror’s frame is a crenellated sunburst, a Gothic harbinger of future styles. – Anna Hoffman of Apartment Therapy

Jan Van Eyck – Mirror Detail

During the 19th century in the Neo-Classical Regency, Georgian and Federal periods these mirrors were often surmounted by eagles and balls or spheres.  The spheres, when  amounting to 13, are symbolic of the original 13 colonies in America, and the eagle was a symbol chosen by our founding fathers of freedom, in the United States of America.

Federal Style Mirror

Federal Style Convex Mirror – found on 1stdibs.com

Not all of these circular mirrors are convex or concave.  Even the flat versions add a decorative element to any room.  Although these mirrors lack functionality, they do add a bit style and can be used in various ways. Typically the best settings for these mirrors are: Above the bed,

Convex Mirror in a Bedroom

Restauration Hardware

Above the fireplace,

Above the couch,

Domino Magazine – An old favorite of mine

Miles Redd interior: Thomas Loof/House Beautiful

and as an accent on a wall between two windows.  The below mirror is painted in a sunny yellow color and adds a bit of elegance with the intricate frame.

Apartment Therapy

Nate Berkus chose an oval shaped, antiqued mirror to as a focal point.

Nate Berkus Design

Stylus.com

Many of the modern variations are a play on the original Louis XIV’s sun god emblem.

Starburst Mirror

Large Sunburst cat-eye mirror – source unknown

I spy two small mirrors on this wall

Lonny Magazine – Favorite image of mine

A couple of reasonably price mirrors for sale:

1. Bellacor – regency convex mirror

2. Crate & Barrel – Starburst mirror

3. Ashton Sutton Mirror – Starburst mirror