Horizontal Mirrors

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	Louis XV Horizontal Mirror
	horizontal mirrors CM1432 46-1/2" x 37-1/2"H Louis XV style carved wood horizontal mirror with leaf and scroll design, finished in antiqued gold leaf list price: $ 2500.00 your price: $ 2000.00
	Tuscan Style Mirror
	horizontal mirrors CM1418 50" x 38-3/4"H 18th-century Tuscan style carved wood horizontal mirror with floral and leaf scroll motif. Wall mirror has an antiqued gold leaf finish. This horizontal mirror is made in Italy list price: $ 3625.00 your price: $ 2900.00
	Neapolitan Horizontal Mirror
	over-mantel mirrors CM1625 42-1/2" x 36-1/2"H 18th-century Neapolitan style carved wood horizontal mirror with leaf scrolls and floral motif. Mirror has an antiqued gold leaf finish. This wall mirror hand-crafted in Italy list price: $ 2500.00 your price: $ 2000.00
	Louis XV Horizontal Mirror
	over-mantel mirrors CM1627 58" x 44-1/2"H Louis XV style carved wood horizontal mirror with leaf scrolls motif. Wall mirror has an antiqued gold leaf finish; made in Italy list price: $ 4062.50 your price: $ 3250.00
	Louis XV Horizontal Mirror
	horizontal mirrors CM1994 52" x 36-1/2"H Louis XV style carved wood mirror with leaf and scroll design, finished in antiqued gold leaf; made in Italy list price: $ 3750.00 your price: $ 3000.00
	Chippendale Horizontal Mirror
	over-mantel mirrors CM523 52-1/2"x 39-1/2"H Horizontal Chippendale style mirror in hand crafted carved wood frame. Mirror has antiqued gold leaf finish. Great for placing over fireplace mantels list price: $ 3062.50 your price: $ 2450.00
	Louis XV Style Horizontal Mirror
	over-mantel mirrors CM1577 60"x 50-1/4"H Louis XV style carved wood mirror with leaf design. Mirror has a hand painted medium brown finish and antiqued gold leaf accents. This mirror is great for placing over fireplace mantels. Mirror hand-crafted in Italy list price: $ 4187.50 your price: $ 3350.00
	Adam Style Horizontal Mirror
	horizontal mirrors CM1169 56-1/2" x 53-1/2"H Hand-crafted Adam style carved wood and wrought iron horizontal mirror with urn, floral and leaf motif, antiqued gold leaf finish and bevel glass; made in Italy list price: $ 5625.00 your price: $ 4500.00
	Adam Style Over-Mantel Mirror
	overmantel mirrors CM1164 50-1/2" x 46"H Adam style carved wood over-mantel mirror with leaf, scroll and garland motif, convex mirror accent and antiqued gold leaf finish. This mirror creates a great look if placed over a fireplace mantel. This over mantel mirror is hand-made in Italy list price: $ 5375.00 your price: $ 4300.00
	Overmantel Mirror
	overmantel mirrors CM1257 55-1/4" x 35-1/2"H Overmantel carved wood mirror with distressed antiqued gold leaf finish and Corinthian column motif. This mirror is great for placing over fireplace mantels list price: $ 2625.00 your price: $ 2100.00

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OVERMANTEL MIRRORS

Large Horizontal Mirrors

The first place we think of placing a mirrors is over the fireplace. For this page we have selected mirrors that will create a perfect over-mantel. All horizontal wall mirrors on this page are hand crafted from wood and have a real gold leaf finish. In the late 18th century the invention of overmantel mirrors lunched a major trend in the decoration of private mansions in Europe. Fireplace mantels were lowered and large horizontal mirrors, often in elaborate gold frames, were mounted above them. The facts are confirm to us by the large mirrors over fireplace mantels at the end of 17th century, but over-mantel mirrors became especially widespread during the Regency period.

Mirrors framed by gilded wood, richly carved in elaborate designs were placed above fireplace mantels. Candelabras and wall sconces, often mounted on mirrored plates that refracted and multiplied light, framed mirrors and fireplace mantels. Over mantel mirrors became not just a fashionable trend but a testimony of good taste and luxury living.

Large horizontal mirrors placed over fireplace mantel became the most delicate invention, providing the most beautiful decorative affects in interior architecture. Mirrors top the list of "must have" luxury home furnishings. Over-mantel mirrors were considered extraordinary embellishments and valued not solely for there size but mostly for there precious elaborately sculpted wooden gilded frames.

Over-Mantel Mirrors

The mirror craze showed no sign of faltering, instead it grew as the century advanced. An architectural treatise written in 18th century devotes more than ten pages to the indispensable rules governing the installation of the large mirrors. Color, purity, and regularity of over-mantel mirrors had to be checked while mirrors are been assembled, for "it would be ridiculous if a nymph who wanted to consult the charms of her beauty should meet, instead of regular figure, a face that is squashed and crooked". Such infatuation with over mantel mirrors incited an opinion that a home can not be pleasant without a fireplace mantel with a mirror over it.

The real estate listings in eightieth century newspapers and magazines always mentioned overmantel mirrors as an added attraction. The provinces were not yet familiar with the refinement of luxury that was the delight of large European cities, so advertisements were especially insistent. Within a few decades, the provinces followed the lead.

European aristocrats who frequently visited Versailles and other palaces had undoubtedly brought similar over mantel mirrors into they own surroundings. Ceremonial halls, great rooms and bedrooms were almost always decorated with mirrors above the fireplace and between the windows.

* All images used on this page are courtesy of Decorative Crafts, Inc