A giltwood mirror is a looking glass set in a frame of carved wood, usually pine or lime, that has been gessoed and covered with gold leaf. Giltwood mirrors include pier glasses, overmantel mirrors, convex mirrors, girandoles and wall mirrors of every size, and they are among the most decorative pieces of furniture in a period interior.
Giltwood frames became fashionable in England from the late seventeenth century and reached a peak in the eighteenth, when Palladian designers favoured architectural frames with pediments and the Rococo brought exuberant asymmetrical carving with C-scrolls, foliage, birds and Chinese figures. Robert Adam and his contemporaries introduced oval and rectangular Neoclassical frames with urns, husks and ribbons, while Regency taste brought round convex mirrors topped by eagles. Many frames were made with composition ornament on wire armatures rather than solid carving, especially from the later eighteenth century onwards. Collectors prefer original water gilding with soft wear and old mercury plates, which have a grey, slightly cloudy reflection and are often lightly foxed. Losses to the carving, regilding and replaced plates all affect value. A good giltwood mirror reflects light around a room and gives instant focus above a chimneypiece or console table.
