18th Century, Large Italian Baroque Wood and pastiglia Lacquered Mirror

This large and refined mirror was made in Piedmont, Italy, around the middle of the eighteenth century.
Of quadrangular shape, the frame is in wood with ornate plaster “pastiglia”. The whole is lacquered in bichrome in shades of red and light green. It consists of several parts: the band that delimits the mirror has a mixed and wavy pattern on the short sides and consists of three reserves in lacquered plaster, with geometric patterns, curls and phytomorphic decorations. In the lower part this band rests on a straight element in lacquered wood that serves as the base of the mirror. Laterally a lacquered and flat band is decorated with plaster in the shape of phytomorphic elements, circles and curls that embellish the lower and upper portions, to delimit the boundaries at the peak of the upper side parts, creating a very refined and elegant jagged movement. The upper portion has an elaborate decoration consisting of ornate plaster that take up the side motifs developing them with greater richness and focused them by shell elements, plant and floral shapes, with curls and volutes.
The mirror is very decorative and elegant, easily placed in any room, such as an entrance hall, a study, a living room, a room, suitable to be combined with antique and modern furniture. Very particular for the type of decoration and architectural project, will soon be subjected to a conservative restoration.
The plaster “pastiglia” is a decorative technique used especially in the Renaissance, but remained in use until the eighteenth century. It was mainly used for the decoration of furniture, frames, chests, doors. The pastiglia is a mixture mainly based on calcium carbonate. Its processing requires great manual skill: the dough of the tablet is worked by hand when it is still soft, before it hardens. Over the centuries they began to produce moulds in which the plaster was poured and once solidified was applied to the furniture.