A giltwood Louis XIV period mirror 17th century circa 1680.

A Louis XIV period mirror in carved lime wood, gilded with leaf, in rectangle quadrilateral shape in principal, increased by a pediment in pyramidal trilateral. The very perced (very openwork) pediment is topped with a full-blown, smiling female face. In the middle part an elegant palmette with hatched outline, punctuated with florets and pearls, underlined with gadroons center the decor. On both sides the shoulders are nothing but windings of acanthus leaves, garlands and foliage, all openwork. Mainly the domed frame is traversed by a dense decoration of winding both floral and vegetal alternating with florets and plumes. Each of the four angles is flanked by a corner piece from which emerges an oblique acanthus leaf towards the center in a cartridge of foliage and scrolls. In the middle, both horizontal and vertical, a staple reiterating the motif, elegantly completes the border. On the periphery of this one, a wide gorge associated with a vegetable grill completes the frame which embeds the ice. This consists of a flat glass plate lined with tin and lead immersed in a mercury bath to dissolve them. Tin associated with lead then giving this warm and luminous side to the mirror called "mercury". The whole decor is unified by a fine and elegant reparure which contributes to the culmination of the work of mixing the gold leaf of the master gilder while sublimating the power of that of the master sculptor. On the back, the chassis of the frame is locked at each of its angles by a key, the sheet of ice is lined with a sole of martin pine which comes to nest in the interior rebate of this same chassis; traditional assembly technique to the decorative arts of the great century.
Thénique which associated with the general decoration places us in the second period of the reign of the great monarch between 1660-1699 at the height of his reign, the period of the decorative arts known as: Louis-fourteen. Period which is distinguished by the search for grandiose to emphasis, by the perfect symmetry of the patterns in the execution of gilded wood. Dimensions: Height 131cm - width 72cm.