Mirror

Decoratively framed museum mirror does not always tell the truth about our appearance, showing a distorted reflection or blurring the legibility of contours with its tarnished surface. However, a lot can certainly be said about a museum mirror by its frame – a secondary but extremely important accessory of interior decoration, complementing it, creating a frame for a painting, a mirror, a fireplace, a panel, a niche or other architectural detail. Over the centuries, frames have been made from different materials, in different shapes and with different techniques. In the historicist interiors of the 19th century, frames, like the furniture, were given forms inspired by past eras, as can be seen in the example in question. It is a gilded frame, decorated with floral motifs, combined with a horizontal rectangular mirror set loosely on a marble fireplace framework. It is topped with a smooth frieze finished with moulding. Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967