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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: floydianoise on August 02, 2010, 09:39:13 PM
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Here's a link to some photos. I am having trouble dating, identifying and appraising this eagle mirror my grandfather passed down. He was a legitimate antique dealer but has since passed. Any idea about its worth or where to send me for more info. I believe it may range from the 1780's -1850's. I am newbie to this forum, if you can't tell.
Links on PhotoBucket. . .had trouble posting here,
http://s865.photobucket.com/albums/ab214/floydianoise/
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Welcome to the forum, folydianoise.
Nice looking piece.
At first glance, I'd guess that you may be 'in the ballpark' about the age of your mirror.
Although it seems evident that the mirror backing piece (wood) has been replaced, I can't tell from your images if the mirror is a plain flat, beveled or convex mirror.
It does represent many 'Bulls-eye' mirrors I've seen; also looks like a gilded walnut frame.
So.. my questions are: do you think it's a replacement mirror(& what type) & do you think the frame is either painted of gilded?
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I do not believe that the mirror is a replacement. It's very thin, plain flat, and I believe quite old. The backing has been replaced but I believe to save the mirror. I'm not sure what gilded means in relationship to the gold finish vs. simply painted. Thanks for your help so far.
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Gilding involves the use of a metal, usually gold - but not always, applied as a foil or in a powdered form. Sole purpose is to imitate gold or to represent a golden object. May only be a part of an item or all.
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Floydianoise , 'gilding' or 'gilded' gold is a term that describes (generally , anyways) a process of applying actual gold leaf (gold that has been hand-pounded into extremely thin sheets) to surfaces .
It's a very dainty process , when used on wood/gessoed wood (cold/room temp process) - not the same process as is used with metals (usually a hot process with those types of items) .
There have been many grades (purities) of gold used for gilding through history ; there are current alloys that appear to be gold , but are not !
Brush-painted wood frames will have distinct 'brush-stroke' patterns , when viewed under 10x or more magnification , as well as having some small-to-large areas (that were not intended to be painted) where you can distinguish a singular (or more) bristle-stroke .
Gilding is sometimes done over hand-applied gesso , which will sometimes be confused with painted items , since the brush-strokes in the gesso will 'show' through gilding as if it is a painted item .... all that being said , gilding is done with natural bristled brushes , which can add to the confusion of identifying with unexperienced eyes !
As KC stated in his post above , sometimes it was in a powdered form too ( I missed that while posting this entry ) .
Often times this type was very fine powdered copper , with a plaing applied to the grains of powder ( looks like gold-dust , in it's raw form ) .
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Federal style circa about 1820. looks to be concave mirror ? if so Bull's eye. market value. $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 dollars.
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Thanks for all of the help. I should add that its flat and not concave. What kind of difference does this make? The actual mirror is down at my parents. I'll look at it more closely for glided vs. painted the next time i get a chance. Keep the ideas comin'.
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the Bull's eye. seem's to be more popular. but all depend's on who's selling. I would insure it for $2,500.00 Dollars.
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I guess the mirror's flat and not convex (I said concave before). Does this mean it's a replacement? I still believe that because the mirror is so thin its an old replacement. . . or did they make ones with flat mirrors? Are they worth less?
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it's not going to make a lot of difference. the bulls eye was just a different version.
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Had it looked at by an antique dealer today. It's a replica, probably made in the early 1900's. Not worth so much. Just have it hanging in my house as a memory of my childhood times at my grandparents. Oh well. Better to have it here for the memories, I suppose.
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Good for you for having it hands-on inspected, floydianoise!
It's still a cool item, and as you stated, it's a part of your family history now (& then).
Perhaps you might get a piece of acid-free mat board ... cut & install it between the mirror & the wood backing (& maybe write your name , the date & the results of the inspection you've just had done on it - if you do, place the hand-written portion of the mat board facing the wood, not the mirror backing).
I suggest this because oils in wood can cause damage to the mirror backing, over time.
:)