Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings

by Mary Harrod Northend

The origin of the mirror is shrouded in mystery and the time of its invention uncertain, but there is no doubt that rude reflectors were made to serve the purpose in South Europe and Asia, at least three hundred years before the Christian Era. These were made of metal, varied in shape, and they were considered necessary toilet accessories. All were highly polished, and several showed handles elaborately wrought.

Small mirrors of polished iron or bronze were used by the early Chinese, who wore them as ornaments at their girdles, attached to a cord that held the handle or knob. Who knows but these may have been forerunners of the "vanity case" in use to-day!

Small circular placques of polished metal known as pocket and hand mirrors came into vogue between the twelfth and the fifteenth centuries. These, too, were worn at the girdle, and placed in shallow boxes covered with a lid. The cases were of ivory, beautifully carved with representations of love, romance, and, less frequently, of the hunt.

Looking-glasses when first used were fastened to the wall like panels, but in the fifteenth century they became movable. These earlier mirrors show a great variety of shapes, and were made of different kinds of polished metal.

The Venetians undoubtedly made the first looking-glasses, having been the ones to discover the art of coating plates of glass with an amalgam of tin foil and mercury. For over a century they guarded their secret well, and it was not until 1670 that the art became known in England through the keenness of an Englishman named Lambert.

Salem merchants sent their ships to Venetian ports, and an occasional mirror of this make is found here. One of these is owned in Salem. It is about a foot and a half in length, its frame of gilt surmounted by a cornice and gilt pineapple, with claw feet.

The introduction of glass mirrors gave rise to a new industry,—the making of mirror frames. In this occupation, cabinet-makers found a new vent for their skill, since by far the larger number of frames were made of wood. Of course, there were a few odd frames made, such as those of glass fitted together at the joints with gilt molding, but the majority were of wood. The different styles are characteristic of certain periods or designers, and it is upon the frame rather than upon the glass that one must rely for value, as well as for date of manufacture.

Previous to the Revolution, the colonists manufactured little furniture, and were dependent upon England, Holland, Spain, and France for their house furnishings, including mirrors. Many beautiful specimens thus found their way here, and many are still to be found in colonial homes. One such is owned in Salem. This is a Bilboa glass, an especially fine type, one of several still preserved in New England, principally in Marblehead. There is a popular legend that these old glasses were brought from the Bay of Biscay by sailors for sweethearts at home, though some authorities insist that they were imported from Italy and paid for with dried fish. However this may be, they are certainly excellent illustrations of the early craftsmen's skill.

The distinctive feature of the Bilboa glass is a column of salmon-colored marble on either side of the gilt frame. This marble is glued or cemented in small sections to the wood, and in some cases strips of marble form the border around the frame. It is ornamented on top by a broken arch surmounted by an urn. Grotesque and grinning heads top the columns, and a narrow bead molding surrounds the glass and decorates the lower part in scroll design.