Mirror
ca. 1878 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The South Kensington Museum, the forerunner of the V&A, bought this mirror at the Paris International Exhibition of 1878. At that time the Museum regularly purchased pieces from such exhibitions as examples of the very highest technical skill. They were intended to inspire young British designers and those learning crafts and trades. The Museum paid £64 for this mirror frame, a very high price at that time.
Many firms produced pieces for international exhibitions that reflected a historical tradition in their home country. Italian firms frequently used the technique of ebony and ivory marquetry, imitating the finest cabinets produced in Naples in about 1600. Giovanni Battista Gatti was one of the most inventive and skilled 19th-century cabinetmakers to use this technique.
Many firms produced pieces for international exhibitions that reflected a historical tradition in their home country. Italian firms frequently used the technique of ebony and ivory marquetry, imitating the finest cabinets produced in Naples in about 1600. Giovanni Battista Gatti was one of the most inventive and skilled 19th-century cabinetmakers to use this technique.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Veneered in ebony and engraved ivory and set with shell cameo plaques |
| Brief description | Mirror, the frame veneered in ebony and ivory and set with shell cameo plaques |
| Physical description | A mirror frame of architectural form, of ebony inlaid with scrolling foliage and small figures in engraved ivory, and with shell cameos of small Roman heads and zodiacal sings |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Gallery label |
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| Object history | Exhibited at the 1878 Paris International Exhibition |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | The South Kensington Museum, the forerunner of the V&A, bought this mirror at the Paris International Exhibition of 1878. At that time the Museum regularly purchased pieces from such exhibitions as examples of the very highest technical skill. They were intended to inspire young British designers and those learning crafts and trades. The Museum paid £64 for this mirror frame, a very high price at that time. Many firms produced pieces for international exhibitions that reflected a historical tradition in their home country. Italian firms frequently used the technique of ebony and ivory marquetry, imitating the finest cabinets produced in Naples in about 1600. Giovanni Battista Gatti was one of the most inventive and skilled 19th-century cabinetmakers to use this technique. |
| Bibliographic reference | Enrico Colle, Il Mobile dell'Ottocento in Italia. Milan: Electa, 2007, illus. p.304. A biographical note on Luigi Frullini is on p. 442. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 669-1878 |
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| Record created | June 1, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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