Toilet mirror

Object Type
Small dressing-table mirrors of the second half of the 17th century usually took the form of wooden frames with a folding support at the back. Mirrors at that period had a poor reflective surface, so it is only those few examples that have elaborate frames or interesting decoration (as here) that have survived.

Manufacture
Mirror glass was both highly prized and highly priced in the 17th century. There was a regular trade in mirror plates from Venice, but many of them were damaged by the damp salty seaweed in which they were packed for shipping. This trade encouraged George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1628-1687), to obtain a patent in 1660 and begin manufacture at Vauxhall.

The mirrors were made by the muff process, in which blown cylinders of glass were opened out and cooled on a flat surface. The plates were then polished by hand and silvered. They could only be made as large as an elongated bubble of glass that could be handled by a single glass blower.

Time
The very personal diamond-point engraving on this mirror expresses the fervent patriotism of its owner who, judging from the inclusion of the arms of the City, may have been a Londoner. The general joy that greeted the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 must have contributed to the great revival of such domestic arts as diamond-point engraving and needlework.