Claydon Overmantel Border Glass Mirror
By Jonathan Sainsbury
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
The elaborate carved decoration following the style of Luke Lightfoot in the Chinoiserie taste, a term used to express the frivolous Chinese style of decoration that enjoyed a tremen...
Giltwood
$28,578
Claydon Pier Mirror
By Jonathan Sainsbury
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
The elaborate carved decoration following the style of Luke Lightfoot in the Chinoiserie taste, a term used to express the frivolous Chinese style of decoration that enjoyed a tremen...
Giltwood
$66,683
Claydon Chimney Piece
By Jonathan Sainsbury
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
The elaborate carved decoration following the style of Luke Lightfoot in the Chinoiserie taste, a term used to express the frivolous Chinese style of decoration that enjoyed a tremen...
Giltwood
$2,995
H 73.5 in W 50 in D 19.75 in
Antique Chinoiserie Jacobean Green Lacquered Hand Painted Bookcase
By Berkey & Gay Furniture
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous antique Chinoiserie Jacobean style bookcase, dining cabinet, or bar cabinet In the manner of Berkey & Gay USA, Circa 1920s Green lacquered carved walnut, with hand ...
Brass
Rosso Glass Wall Mirror
By Specchi Veneziani
Located in Milan, IT
Crafted in the finest Murano tradition, this exquisite Venetian mirror is a true work of art. Assembled with crystal and gold elements, and adorned with red glass flowers, each piece...
Glass
Pair of 70s Style Italian Bamboo and Brass Table Lamps
Located in New York, NY
Monumental size Bamboo lamps. Crafted in Italy and made to order, these lamps are modern and chic. Production lead time 2-4 weeks. Base diameter 8 inches, hat diameter 20 inches, he...
Brass
$9,850
H 20 in W 16 in D 12 in
A 1930's French Gilt Lacquered Wood Pagoda Form Chinoiserie Platinum Painted Box
By Maison Jansen
Located in New York, NY
A 1930's French Gilt Lacquered Wood Pagoda Form Chinoiserie Platinum Painted Box, Attributed to Jansen. At first glance, the box's visual allure is simply breathtaking. Adorned with ...
Wood
$2,500 / item
H 17.72 in Dm 14.97 in
Soda Blown Murano Glass High Coffee Table in Petrol by Yiannis Ghikas
By Miniforms, Yiannis Ghikas
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Soda was born upside-down, with a puff of air. It weighs 20 kilos, and it is blown, drawn out and shaped by three master glassmakers. The result is a single volume of glass with thre...
Blown Glass
Large Chinoiserie Style Giltwood Pagoda Crest Mirror
Located in Bruton, GB
A magnificent large-scale giltwood mirror showcasing an elegant blend of neoclassical and Chinoiserie-inspired design. The tall rectangular frame is crowned with an elaborate pierced...
Mirror, Giltwood
$13,575 / item
H 49.22 in Dm 70.87 in
Brass and Parchment Paper Chandelier by Diego Mardegan for Glustin Luminaires
By Diego Mardegan
Located in Saint-Ouen, IDF
Impressive chandelier made of white enameled brass arms holding six beautiful parchment paper shades, which can be adjusted thanks to the handle of each socket. Signed by the arti...
Brass
Harewood House Bed
By Jonathan Sainsbury
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A resplendent four poster bed with exquisite hand-carvings and flutings and domed canopy. The bed takes its inspiration from the State Bed at Harewood House, Yorkshire, home to the ...
Mahogany
Pair of Antique English Chinoiserie Pedestals
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Standout pair of 19th Century English pedestals or stands handcrafted in hardwood in an octagon form,featuring hand decorated floral Chinoiserie with embossed highlights on an eboniz...
Hardwood
Rare Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Tulipwood and Chinese Lacquer Cabinet
Located in Long Island City, NY, NY
A Rare Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Tulipwood and Chinese Lacquer cabinet, c. 1750 (Regence Period) A truly magnificent, monumental, and one of a kind cabinet, painted throughout with gi...
Ormolu
$5,798,521
H 203.94 in W 251.97 in D 143.7 in
George Trollope & Sons fireplace & room, Paris Exhibition 1878 Gold Medal Winner
Located in London, GB
George Trollope and Sons. Exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1878 winning a Gold Medal for Excellence. The set forms the four sides of a complete panelled room that was ...
Marble
$187,500
H 102 in W 84.5 in D 22.5 in
Exceptional 19th Century English Chinoiserie Pagoda Display Cabinet
Located in Houston, TX
Large-scale 19th century English display cabinet executed in the Chinoiserie tradition. Constructed in carved mahogany and conceived as a tripartite architectural façade, each glazed...
Glass, Mahogany
Large Painted Chippendale Style Segmented Mirror
Located in Kent, Dover
A large English Chippendale style painted, finely carved and gesso segmented mirror. With a large pagoda, scrolls, acanthus and flanked either side with a squirrel and a bird. It has...
Mirror, Fruitwood
$574,500
H 84 in W 56 in D 20 in
An Imperial Japanese Meiji Shibayama Tea Cabinet by The Tokugawa Samurai Clan
Located in Long Island City, NY, NY
An Imperial Japanese Meiji Shibayama Tea Ceremony Cabinet by The Tokugawa Samurai Clan. This extraordinary Meiji-period shibayama cabinet, attributed to the Tokugawa samurai clan, s...
Mother-of-Pearl, Wood, Lacquer
$117,351
H 61.82 in W 38.59 in D 22.05 in
17th Century Japanese Lacquer Cabinet On French Giltwood Regence Stand
Located in Benington, Herts
An Extremely Fine and Very Important 17th Century Japanese Lacquer Cabinet on French Giltwood Stand of Regence Period circa 1680-1690 Provenance Likely acquired by Herman Willem ...
Giltwood, Lacquer
Oak and Walnut Tester Bed
Located in New Orleans, LA
This lavish American oak and walnut tester bed exhibits superior craftsmanship and detail. The design is embellished by elaborate carving throughout in a neoclassical motif the inclu...
Silk, Mahogany, Oak, Walnut
The road from early innovations in reflective glass to the alluring antique and vintage mirrors in trendy modern interiors has been a long one but we’re reminded of the journey everywhere we look.
In many respects, wall mirrors, floor mirrors and full-length mirrors are to interior design what jeans are to dressing. Exceedingly versatile. Universally flattering. Unobtrusively elegant. And while all mirrors are not created equal, even in their most elaborate incarnation, they're still the heavy lifters of interior design, visually enlarging and illuminating any space.
We’ve come a great distance from the polished stone that served as mirrors in Central America thousands of years ago or the copper mirrors of Mesopotamia before that. Today’s coveted glass Venetian mirrors, which should be cleaned with a solution of white vinegar and water, were likely produced in Italy beginning in the 1500s, while antique mirrors originating during the 19th century can add the rustic farmhouse feel to your mudroom that you didn’t know you needed.
By the early 20th century, experiments with various alloys allowed for mirrors to be made inexpensively. The geometric shapes and beveled edges that characterize mirrors crafted in the Art Deco style of the 1920s can bring pizzazz to your entryway, while an ornate LaBarge mirror made in the Hollywood Regency style makes a statement in any bedroom. Friedman Brothers is a particularly popular manufacturer known for decorative round and rectangular framed mirrors designed in the Rococo, Louis XVI and other styles, including dramatic wall mirrors framed in gold faux bamboo that bear the hallmarks of Asian design.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, mid-century modernism continues to influence the design of contemporary mirrors. Today’s simple yet chic mantel mirror frames, for example, often neutral in color, owe to the understated mirror designs introduced in the postwar era.
Sculptor and furniture maker Paul Evans had been making collage-style cabinets since at least the late 1950s when he designed his Patchwork mirror — part of a series that yielded expressive works of combined brass, copper and pewter — for Directional Furniture during the mid-1960s. Several books celebrating Evans’s work were published beginning in the early 2000s, as his unconventional furniture has been enjoying a moment not unlike the resurgence that the Ultrafragola mirror is seeing. Designed by the Memphis Group’s Ettore Sottsass in 1970, the Ultrafragola mirror, in all its sensuous acrylic splendor, has become somewhat of a star thanks to much-lauded appearances in shelter magazines and on social media.
On 1stDibs, we have a broad selection of vintage and antique mirrors and tips on how to style your contemporary mirror too.