Gustavian mirror
A slender gilded mirror with a crest, often with the glass in two pieces.
Mirror glass was long a luxury. Large plates were hard to make, so tall mirrors were often put together from two pieces of glass.
In the Gustavian style frames became straight and slender, with beading and a crest of antique motifs. Mirrors were often hung between the windows, above a console table, where they spread the daylight through the room.
Materials: Carved and gilded wood, mirror glass backed with tin and mercury
Manufacture: The frame is carved, primed with gesso and gilded with gold leaf; the glass is ground and coated on the back.
The crest: an urn, a bow or laurel wreaths on top of the frame.
Straight, narrow mouldings with beading instead of the curving rococo frame.
The glass in two pieces, with a joint some way down – large plates were hard and costly to make.