Very large and heavy mirror

[krita643]

Hi all!

I'm hoping to get some help identifying a mirror that I'm completely stumped on. I don't think it's very old, maybe vintage or maybe even a higher end reproduction or quality mirror but it's incredibly heavy, appears to be all wood, with the carved motifs attached around the perimeter. There were too many contradicting parts to this that led to me not having a clue after researching. I'm going to assume that the mirror was replaced as the backing is generally clean and mirror is in good shape, that's the only thing that looked the newest to me. Other than that I hope someone here could offer their expertise or opinion to point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!

[krita643]

A few more images

[bigwull]

your location would help.....not yer actual address........and dimensions of the mirror too,...i,m of the opinion from what i,ve seen so far...that the frame is in fact quite old....and i,m not so sure its a repo,the wood is pine....of that i,m sure...and the carving is good and i believe its hand done...as opposed to machining.....the layered effect is to add strength to the frame...the little screw in eye bolt looks to be a hand made jobbie...yes i like it......

[KC]

Older mirrors are H E A V Y!!!!  Can you please post the dimensions?

Can you post a better overall picture?

[mart]

Its not a repro and likely dates to around 1920 or so !!  What makes these mirrors extremely heavy is the mirrors used were mostly 1/4 inch glass as opposed to the 1/8th that is used today !!  The darkening of the frame color says it was done with a paint technique rather than gilding or gold leaf !!  They make some 24K gold paints today and if it were me I would have it out of that frame and redone to what it used to look like with a new dust cover !!  How did you come by this mirror ??  Reason i ask is sometimes a mirror is stained and losing the silver beyond repair or use as it was intended,, many shops remove the silver with paint stripper and have a 1/8 inch cut to fit behind it !!  Although this is usually only done if original is beveled edge !! I did not see an edge on yours but you might check for that !!

[ghopper1924]

I'm getting a feeling that this mirror is quite a bit older than that...

[bigwull]

Its not a repro and likely dates to around 1920 or so !!  What makes these mirrors extremely heavy is the mirrors used were mostly 1/4 inch glass as opposed to the 1/8th that is used today !!  The darkening of the frame color says it was done with a paint technique rather than gilding or gold leaf !!  They make some 24K gold paints today and if it were me I would have it out of that frame and redone to what it used to look like with a new dust cover !!  How did you come by this mirror ??  Reason i ask is sometimes a mirror is stained and losing the silver beyond repair or use as it was intended,, many shops remove the silver with paint stripper and have a 1/8 inch cut to fit behind it !!  Although this is usually only done if original is beveled edge !! I did not see an edge on yours but you might check for that !!

...." I would have it out of that frame."....Do you remember what happened the last time...when it was mooted...about getting something out of a frame.....

[mart]

Notice i said,,"thats what I would do" !!  Nothing else !!
Could be earlier,, thats just what I can see !!

[KC]

I'm grinning at the hanging wire!  I have a bedroom set that I just pulled out of storage from late 1800's.  The hanging wires are like that as well!!!  Were used like this to early 1900's.

If you are going to paint the frame and aren't well versed in doing this sort of thing...just use painters tape and tape the mirror with painters paper sheets.

[krita643]

Thank you for the all of the replies and advice so far! The mirror has migrated into my basement so I had a hard time trying to get different shots to upload without having another person there to help move it around. Tried my best and hopefully these pictures will help. Unfortunately I did have a piece of the bottom fall off, I took a picture of it because I had originally thought it was all wood but this little piece of the carving looks like some sort of plaster inside, maybe? By the weekend I should be able to get some help with seeing the actual mirror part and will give an update as soon as I can.

Measures:
43 inches wide by 32 inches tall. With the top crest and bottom that extends the height would be about 39 1/2 inches.

thanks again 

[krita643]

some more images

[krita643]

and I'm sorry for the multiple post but I forgot to mention the mirror came from Pennsylvania, was sitting in a friends storage unit for years and that's about all I have unfortunately.

[bigwull]

i may have to eat my words here....this frame looks like an oak one...and the dowelled joints are telling me that like ghopper says..this is older than the 20,s.....

[ghopper1924]

The decorative motifs look consistent with late rococo revival phasing into renaissance revival; it also looks like there's some handwork involved. I'd say 1865-75.

[cogar]

The non-beveled glass and the paper backing with the nails showing in Post #10, plus the way the corners are joined together,  make me agree with Mart, circa 1920’s or later.

And those look like dowel pins in the picture but they serve no purpose there that I can see. If that corner was doweled together, the dowel would have been put in the other out-side face of the joint.

That is a beveled corner but not a “45”. There might be a “hidden” dowel pin(s) in each corner …… or the “wood fasteners” may be on the front side underneath the “plaster”.

There is no “carving” on that frame. It is a “flat” wood frame with molded plaster on it.

Just my learned opinion, of course.