Mirror
ca. 1510 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Victorian curators always wanted to associate Museum objects with known historic figures. They believed at first that this mirror was associated with Marguerite de Valois, first wife of Henry VI of France, on account of the decoration of its frame with daisies (marguerites in French). The decoration was then thought to have been a pun on her name. But Marguerite lived between 1553 and 1615, almost a century after the mirror is likely to have been made. However, it also includes two emblems connected with Frederigo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino in Italy - the ermine and the goose (perhaps readable as Frederigo's symbol of an ostrich) with an arrow-head in its beak. Frederigo lived from 1422 to 1482 and so it is possible that the mirror could have been made for him or for someone in his household. Images of ermine and ostriches were used in the decorations of Frederigo's studiolo or study , built for his palace in Gubbio, Italy and now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. This mirror belonged to Jules Soulages (1803 - 1856), a lawyer from Toulouse, whose collection was bought piecemeal by this museum, after being exhibited at Marlborough House between December 1856 and January 1857. It may have been altered or repaired in the 19th-century, just before Jules Soulages bought it.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Parts | This object consists of 4 parts.
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Materials and techniques | Carved walnut with metal mirror plate |
Brief description | Standing mirror with metal plate (Italian), about 1510, 7695-1861 |
Physical description | Carved walnut table mirror with rectangular frame that rotates on a carved, four-sided pedestal. The frame contains a metal plate, polished on one side, rough on the back. The rectangular frame is carved on both sides with a plain top edge, alternating palmette and anthemion motifs on a densely punched ground, and at the sight edge a narrow guilloche and plain band. On both vertical stiles of the frame the back faces are carved with a guilloche within a leaf and dart border. Mounted as a cornice above the rectangular frame, (and with a similar antependium below), is a pair of S scrolls with acanthus boss, guilloche freize and punched background, between which sits a rectangular block carved with a rough top (perhaps representing freshly dug earth). The front and back faces of the block each contain a rectangular frame with three daisies on a clod or section of turf. Above and below the main frame, between the scroll element and the main frame run ogee mouldings with leaf and dart, two above and one below. The rectangular frame rests on an urn with low relief egg and dart, gadrooning, acanthus, palmette and anthemion motifs. The urn stands on a lobed octagonal platform above the quatrefoil pedestal. Each of the four sides of the pedestal presents a triangular, dished panel with a medallion within coin moulding and enclosed by three triangular compartments with a punched ground and leaf and dart mouldings. The four medallions contain the following emblematic motifs against a densely punched ground: 1) an elephant with a fly on its back, 2) a goose holding an arrow head or nail in its beak, 3) a knot of twisted hair pierced with seven thorns, fastened at the bottom to a base of textile (perhaps for a head dress), and surmounted by a star, 4) an ermine with a blank scroll above it. Below this ‘pyramid’ is an ogee moulding with alternating palmette and anthemion motifs linked by an undulating stem, against a punched ground. The quatrefoil base has been mounted on a modern, stepped walnut foot with an ogee moulding above and below a flat band. Construction The top crest consists of three main elements that are probably glued together: 1) the S scrolls and central block are carved from the solid, 2) a leaf moulding, 3) a larger cornice moulding. On the underside, a wedge shaped fillet (broken at one end) has been nailed, which fits a corresponding groove in the top rail. Frame: the crest fits into the top rail of the frame with a sliding dovetail; by removing this the metal plate can be slid in or out of the frame. Underneath the rectangular frame is a round housing which fits over a plain turned post 8cm high integral with the pedestal urn. The main rectangular frame consists of four sides (each side being a single piece of wood carved on both sides, and grooved inside to receive the plate) joined with mitred dovetails, with some evidence of pegging to lock the joints. The pedestal consists of four elements: urn and post, pyramid, carved plinth, plain foot. Below the urn and post (a single, turned and carved element), the pyramidal part of the stand with four dished triangular sides appears to be made of one piece of wood to just below the medallions. This is seated onto the quatrefoil anthemion/palmette base, apparently fixed by nails through its four plain bands and the nails covered with wooden caps. At the tips of the four promontories, small infills of wood have been added where losses occurred. Additional plugged nails may secure the urn (via a dowel exension) to the pyramid. The pyramid and base have been mounted to a walnut foot 25mm high with plain moulded edges using a central metal fitting (the hole plugged underneath); this foot appears most likely to be 19th century on the basis of its 'clean' surfaces and pale colour, and may have become necessary if the base had become damaged. Modifications The moulded foot must be 19th century in date. Frame: some nails in the frame were probably inserted at a later date and have stained the wood, and there are filled worm channels on the plain sections of the bottom rail. It seems possible that this plain area has been stripped of some shallow applied ornament. Along the top of the frame top rail, and on both sides of one upper corner walnut facings have been spliced in. Under the bottom rail, damages have occurred at all four corners of the carved leaf and dart moulding. The sliding crest appears to have been substantially rebuilt, and it seems possible that the scrolls rested on what is now the lower moulding (thus matching the antependium), without the addition of the upper leaf moulding, the colour and carving style do not match other, similar mouldings. The mirror plate is made of speculum, an alloy of copper and tin with a small amount of arsenic (XRF analysis 2018 by Dr Lucia Burgio). |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Production type | Unique |
Gallery label | MIRROR
Carved walnut
ITALIAN (probably Venice); about 1510
7695-1861
From the Soulages Collection
Before about 1550 most mirror plates were made of steel, and glass versions, like the example here, were considered a speciality of Venice. The finely carved frame, decorated with classical motifs, includes a plinth with a number of emblems: the elephant with a fly on its back illustrates the Latin proverb "the Indian elephant is not afraid of flies", (meaning it is not perturbed by trivia); the goose carrying a pin in its mouth might symbolise the ability to break down large things with small but sharp objects; loose hair represents virginity and plaited or braided hair, as on this mirror, the courtesan or profane love; the ermine was a symbol of purity. The original owner might have been playing with two opposing sets of symbols. It is possible that the daisies (Italian: margherite) in the small plaques at the top and bottom of the frame might have been the emblem of Marguerite of Valois [sic, probably in error for Marguerite de Navarre] (1492-1549) .(Pre-2006) |
Object history | Bought for £150 from the collection of Jules Soulages, no.671 'Italian work, c.1440-50' A photograph of the mirror is included among those taken by Charles Thurston Thompson of Soulages artefacts: pressmark MX 12A X181, ref. 32.799 Lent to the exhibition 'Spiegel. Der Mensch im Widerschein' (Zurich, Museum Reitberg, 17 May to 22 Sept. 2019) To the Victorians this mirror was associated with Marguerite de Valois, owing to the decoration of its frame with daisies (marguerite in French), then thought to have been a pun on her name. It also has two emblems connected with Frederigo da Montefeltro (1422 - 1482): the ermine and the goose (or ostrich, in the case of Frederigo) with an arrow-head in its beak, which were used in the decorations of his studiolo, formerly in Gubbio, Italy and now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. This mirror belonged to Jules Soulages (1803 - 1856), a lawyer from Toulouse, whose collection was bought piecemeal by this museum, after being exhibited at Marlborough House between December 1856 and January 1857. This example could possibly date from the 1480s but various pieces were added and replaced at later dates. Dating of the frame Since entering the Museum the dating of the mirror frame has varied considerably: the catalogue of the Soulages collection (1856) suggested 1440-50; John Hungerford Pollen's catalogue of furniture in the SKM gave c1475-85; in 1972 Peter Thornton suggested c1500; by c1990 the Furniture dept suggested c1510, but retained the possibility of an original association with Federico da Montefeltro (1422-82). Dating of the metal plate The fragility of metal and glass mirror plates and improvements in their manufacture since 1500 mean that the plates in mirror frames have often been replaced. This plate fits the frame precisely, although it is notably heavy when compared to other metal plates found in mirrors such as V&A 218-1866. What is hard to explain in this instance is why the plate is polished on only one side (and undecorated), whereas the frame is double-sided. Metallurgical analysis may help identify the date at which the metal plate was made. |
Historical context | On the use of mirrors in the Renaissance see P.K.Thornton, The Italian Renaissance Interior 1400-1600 (London 1991), pp.234-9; Sandra Cavallo, 'Health, Beauty and Hygiene' in Ajmar-Wollheim, Marta and Flora Dennis, At Home in Renaissance Italy, London: V&A Publishing, 2006, p.174 ff Although small glass mirrors were being made in Germany in the 14th century and in Murano from 1420, steel mirrors were more common than glass ones until well into the 16th century, the largest probably around 40-50cm. Mirrors could also be made of tin, silver or gold. Thornton notes (n6) that steel produced 'the sharpest and therefore the most faithful reflection, its natural colour affecting the natural colours hardly at all.' In Renaissance Italy terms for steel like acciale and azzale were used. The frames of renaissance mirrors were made of various materials such as metal, ivory, silver mounted on wood, carved, gilded, or painted wood, cartapesta (papier mâché) or wood with pastiglia decoration. In Venetian and Florentine inventories of the 16th century, the most frequently listed frame type is carved walnut, often partly gilt, though ebony was also recommended (Dora Thornton, The Scholar in his Study (New Haven, London, 1997, p. 172). The plates (and frames) were protected from scratching, corrosion or spotting by curtains, shutters or cases. 7695-1861 is perhaps likely to have been protected by a textile cover. Standing mirrors like 7695-1861 are normally assumed to be toilet mirrors, and elaborate examples with highly ornamented frames and flat mirror plates appear in 16th century Italian and French paintings that show attractive ladies at their toilette, such as that at Worcester Art Museum (Mass.), inv. 1932.23, attributed to Francois Clouet c.1570 (see Isabelle Bardiès-Fronty et al., Le bain et le miroir: soins du corps et cosmétiques de l'antiquité à la Renaissance, (Réunion des musées nationaux (France), 2009), Ec.61, p.302-3, and Andrea Bayer (ed.): Art and Love in Renaissance Italy (Metropolitan Museum, New York, New Haven, 2008), no 87). 'Mirrors had many symbolic meanings in the visual vocabulary of the Italian Renaissance: they were attributes of beautiful women, but they could also symbolise vanity, voluptuousness...deceit, prudence (because it revealed truth), humility, and pride.' The association with beauty is crystallized by the entry under the term Bellezza Feminile (Feminine Beauty) in Cesare Ripa's Iconologia, first published in 1593, where one of the attributes is a mirror.' (Bayer, p.226) Mirrors were conspicuous luxuries and an ideal marriage or betrothal gift. Toilet mirrors are most likely to have been kept in the bedchamber or dressing room of the house, and used when arranging one's coiffure, as Gilles Corrozet confirms in his Blason du Miroir, where he describes a Miroir de verre bien bruny/D'une riche chasse garny/Ou la belle, plaisante, et clere/Se void, se mire, et considere... (Mirror of well burnished glass fitted with a rich frame in which the beauty views herself pleasantly and clearly, admires herself and surveys...). Gilles Corrozet, 'Les Blasons Domestiques' (1539), Furniture History, 1989, vol. XXV. However mirrors carried other meanings, and were recorded in other contexts such as studioli and artists' studies where mirrors (especially convex ones) could be used in various ways: as an optical glass in reading, to focus and concentrate light, and to enhance the appearance of a room with pleasing reflections (see Dora Thornton, pp. 167-74). A standing mirror with flat glass is depicted on Petrarch's desk in his private study (c1400) alongside the instruments of intellectual study, presumably as a source of light (illustrated in Thornton fig.4). Mirrors were used by men as well as women to enhance appearance (Cavallo p178). The growing popularity of mirrors during the 16th century in Italy presumably also reflected contemporary notions of the mind and body: 'the face in particular was seen as the mirror of the soul, of inner virutes and vices, and beauty a divine gift granted to those most deserving' (Cavallo p178). Mirrors could be instruments of vanity but used rightly, it was believed that a mirror coudl strenghten a man's will in his pursuit of virtue and spiritual detachment (Dora Thornton, p.174). The inclusion of heraldic or emblematic symbols on mirror frames such as V&A 7694-1861 and 7695-1861 suggests that using such mirrors - whether in the study or the chamber - was regarded as an appropriate occasion to consider weightier matters of identity and morality. Gustav Ludwig, p.306 notes that flat mirrors are rarely recorded in Italian Renaissance inventories, but cites one example "specchij cum el pe" (mirror with a foot) - Gustav Ludwig, 'Restello, Spiegel und Toilettenutensilien in Venedig zur Zeit der Renaissance', Italienische Forschungen, Berlin 1906, Volume I; fig.125 Emblems Two emblems may be connected with Frederigo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino in Italy - the ermine and the goose (perhaps readable as Frederigo's symbol of an ostrich) with an arrow-head in its beak. Frederigo lived from 1422 to 1482 and so it is possible that the mirror could have been made for him or for someone in his household. Images of the ermine (with the motto non mai, 'never') and the ostrich (with the motto Ich Kann verdauen ein grosses Eisen 'I can digest a big piece of iron'), set on a clump of turf like the one appearing with daisies in this mirror, were used in the decorations of Frederigo's studiolo or study, built for his palace in Gubbio, Italy and now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. (See Olga Riaggio and Antoine M. Wilmering: The Gubbio Studiolo and its Conservation. 2 vols (New York, 1999), vol.I p.113 ff. The elephant with a fly on its back illustrates the Latin proverb "the Indian elephant is not afraid of flies", (meaning it is not perturbed by trivia); the goose carrying a pin in its mouth might symbolise the ability to break down large things with small but sharp objects; loose hair represents virginity and plaited or braided hair, as on this mirror, the courtesan or profane love; the ermine was a symbol of purity. The original owner might have been playing with two opposing sets of symbols. It is possible that the daisies (Italian: margherite) in the small plaques at the top and bottom of the frame referred to a woman called Marguerite, and in the past the mirror was speculatively associated with Marguerite of Valois (1492-1549). |
Summary | Victorian curators always wanted to associate Museum objects with known historic figures. They believed at first that this mirror was associated with Marguerite de Valois, first wife of Henry VI of France, on account of the decoration of its frame with daisies (marguerites in French). The decoration was then thought to have been a pun on her name. But Marguerite lived between 1553 and 1615, almost a century after the mirror is likely to have been made. However, it also includes two emblems connected with Frederigo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino in Italy - the ermine and the goose (perhaps readable as Frederigo's symbol of an ostrich) with an arrow-head in its beak. Frederigo lived from 1422 to 1482 and so it is possible that the mirror could have been made for him or for someone in his household. Images of ermine and ostriches were used in the decorations of Frederigo's studiolo or study , built for his palace in Gubbio, Italy and now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. This mirror belonged to Jules Soulages (1803 - 1856), a lawyer from Toulouse, whose collection was bought piecemeal by this museum, after being exhibited at Marlborough House between December 1856 and January 1857. It may have been altered or repaired in the 19th-century, just before Jules Soulages bought it. |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | 7695-1861 |
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Record created | April 15, 2003 |
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