When I purchased this mirror many years ago, I thought it was one of those made-up items from the turn of the 20th century, but am now convinced it is period (ca. 1810), but a northern European item. It has been sitting in my basement all this time, waiting for a painted or eglomise panel. Not having an original to work with, nor having a well-documented related example, the closest I could determine was that it would have something in the classical mode, in order to relate the the neo-classical design. Not having found a design I was happy with, I decided to do something non-traditional. I found a design in the book of 18th century engravings "The Ladies Amuseument" (designs meant for japanning, etc.) of swans. I did a panel based on this for a small Federal mirror, which again, while not technically appropriate, created a great deal of attention when it was displayed at a show. So I decided to repeat this for this mirror. Should I ever find a more suitable design, I can remove this panel without damage to the mirror frame.
The technique of verre eglomise (gold leaf under glass) involves laying gold on the glass with a water/gelatin solution, etching through the gold to create the design, then applying backing paints.
The pictures with this blog entry show the beginnings of the process, along with the print source used.
Once the design is etched, a black backing paint is placed where gold is to remain; once this paint is dry, the remaining gold is gently removed, or "washed back".
I will post another entry when this project is completed.
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