Luxury Gilded Period Fireplace Mirrors  

At The Mirror Company we don't just SELL MIRRORS, we have a team of experts that are here to help with all aspects of Mirrors and Framing projects.

Whether you are a large hotel chain looking for interior advice in a period building or a private client that needs some help matching a peiod home, or looking at making a newer property or loft conversion into a spacial dream, we are able to help.

We offer this service free of charge. All you need to do is send us an email with a few details and we will do the work for you.

1. The type of property that the Mirrors or FRames are going in to, e.g. private home, hotel, restaurant or bar.
2. Which room, i.e. lounge, bedroom, drawing room, e.t.c.
3. Date of the property, e.g. 1710, 1950.
4. Size of the vertical and horizontal space in inches or centimeters.
5. Colour, e.g. gold, silver or woods.
6. Budget (if you are unsure we always help with an accurate quote).

Send the above via email to enquiries@themirrorcompany.com and we will reply with a thorough presentation of options available. You can rest assured that you are in safe hands with over 16 years experience in Fine Art and Framing. We will send you information of styles, periods, and even (if you require) furniture to match your options.

We also have many options for those wishing to purchase for large trade projects including detailed PDF documents illustrating sizing and Mirror/Frame shapes tailored to the clients space and requirements. Your and your client will find this helps enormously when assessing and finalising a project, ensuring progresses as smoothly as possible.

Period Mirrors

We are proud to offer what we belive to be the highest quality and accurate reproduction mirrors available today.

All of these frames are individually handcarved and are finished in either 23.5ct, English, French or Italian gold leaf.

These frames are all made to order, we pride ourselves on efficient craftmanship and can work to tight deadlines.

Please enjoy our historical framing, a knowledge that we treasure and offer for you and future generations to enjoy.

Welcome to the Period Mirrors

Returning to post-Puritan Britain from exile on the continent, aristocrats indulged a taste for finery and pleasure which many of the more wealthy public were keen to imitate. Taking great pleasure in making their residences as dramatic as possible, mirrors played a very important role in representing status taste and wealth. The mirrors that we can create for this period are influenced by Baroque style form Italy, Spain and Germany and in particular (The Mirror Company's favorite) the King of France Louis XVI, who is historically renowned for extravagance and highly skilled french craftsmen. In England the carver Grinling Gibbons took extravagant wood carving to a level where frames, borders and fireplace surrounds became artworks in themselves.

Please use the enquiry form or phone The Mirror Company where we are always happy to help.

An extravagant period where the English gentry weren't afraid to spend their new found money, often to excess. Successful artists and architects as well as bankers and businessmen all enjoyed the riches of life.

Styles were often mixed, and the arrival of classical styles in architecture meant large square buildings with large square rooms and lots of space to fill. And filled they were, often with exotics arriving on English shores from the sons of gentry who had finished their formal education and taken the "Grand Tour", where they were taken to be 'bettered' via a tour of the great houses and palaces of Europe, as well as playing witness to classical art and architecture. This led to the early Georgian era importing varying and eclectic art, sculptures and of course mirrors.

Rococo, in all its splendour was very popular, as well as mahogany frames in all manner of styles from gothic to palladian.

The frames below are examples of pieces that we have made to order for clients who require the finest recreations of frames and mirrors to suit Early Georgian properties. Please use the enquiry form or phone The Mirror Company where we are always happy to help.

The later Georgian style somewhat 'calmed' the previous 40 years of Georgian style down. More exploration of the Classical worlds would lead to the discovery of repeated stylised interior motifs. Robert Adam and his younger brother George were highly influential to Late Georgian style, their Classical motifs such as garlands of flowers flowers and palm leaves were to feature regularly around motifs of urns and cameos.The later Georgian style somewhat ‘calmed’ the previous 40 years of Georgian style down. More exploration of the Classical worlds would lead to the discovery of repeated stylised interior motifs. Robert Adam and his younger brother George were highly influential to Late Georgian style, their Classical motifs such as garlands of flowers flowers and palm leaves were to feature regularly around motifs of urns and cameos.

With extravagant mirrors left over from the early Georgian era, the significant mirror style was to reflect the Classical symmetry by hanging pairs of mirrors on either side of furniture or pictures.

The Frames below are examples of pieces that we have made to order for clients who require the finest recreations of frames and mirrors to suit the Late Georgian period. Please use the enquiry form or phone The Mirror Company where we are always happy to help.

Regency style covers the styles and fashions from the end of the 18th century until George IV's death in 1830. Due to the Napoleonic War (1793-1815) the wealthy were kept on English shores, enjoying a booming wartime wealth in London and vacating to spa towns like Cheltenham, Bath and seaside resorts like Brighton. The publication of journals such as Repository of Fine Art by Rudolph Ackermann (pub. 1809-29) and Thomas Hope's Household Furniture and Interior Decoration allowed the wealthy to gain a new and accesible knowledge of new styles and other cultures luxuries. This resulted in a keen competetiveness to show wealth through "knowledgable" purchases of art, sculpture paintings, and indeed mirrors. John Nash was the dominant architect; his beautiful Greek inspired buildings around Regents Park inspired the magnificent architecture of several other cities like Bath, Cheltenham and Brighton, with the property interiors no less impressive and grand. Mirrors were very much a large part of the statement décor of the luxury period home. With London becoming the centre for the European art market frame making and mirrors reflecting on past styles and created for paintings by artists like Turner and pieces like the classic eagle crested circular mirrors of the time. These were mirrors styled to represent a proud nation.

Please use the enquiry form or phone The Mirror Company where we are always happy to help.

A boom in prosperity generated by world trade, banks, factories and the mining industry created a new type of wealth; 'middle-class' wealth. For the first time, luxury goods were available to order through catalogues and from stock held shops. This was all down to Victorian demand for gaining knowledge, a luxury previously only procured to the very wealthy and educated. The early Victorians managed to gain quick knowledge of styles from books and pattern sheets. Although the Victorian ideal was to be pious and moral, there was an obvious difference between poverty and money and this is reflected in the classic red brick Victorian architecture housing proud fireplaces, covings, and sturdy high ceiling rooms; all of which were focused on the family. This however did not stop the extravagance behind closed doors. The Victorians, although generally very opinionated on the extravagance of Regency and Georgian times, nevertheless relied on using their symbolic furniture styles together to reflect a historical knowledge and wealth. Mirrors are a very important part of Victorian interiors. In fact, they are arguably essential above the huge and impressive fireplaces that you find in most Victorian residences. The Mirror Company have supplied hundreds of mirrors for Victorian premises, with the full confidence that the majority of our traditional frames will fit perfectly.

Please use the enquiry form or phone The Mirror Company where we are always happy to help.

The ‘eclectic’ period.

Due to the promise of mass-production providing every furniture style, frame style and mirror style available; the mid Victorian image of deep red walls and heavy furniture cluttered with mis-matching styles of interior decoration became the symbolic style of the mid-Victorian era. The various world trade fairs opened the eyes of the Victorians, the biggest being ‘The Great Exhibition’ showcasing the works industry of all nations at Hyde Park ( 1851). This exhibition had over 14,000 exhibitors and over 7,000 of these were from overseas. Such a show stirred the Victorians, and over 6 ,000,000 visitors flocked to see a representations of mankind’s achievements to date. This in turn lead to a confusing 20 year period of mass production seemingly endless access to innovation and new technology. However, for every action there is a reaction, and the period saw a revival of individual handmade crafts and craftsmen. Trying to go beyond what mass production could achieve, firms such as James Morris Wilcox produced incredible carving work, obviously looking back to the late 1700s master craftsman Grinling Gibbons. There was also a reaction to all the heavy mass-produced furniture of the time.

Firms like Royal Worcester and Minton began producing delicate pieces of porcelain to sit amongst the ornate Baroque furniture and frames produced in the mid-Victorian times in the style of the Louis xvi and late 17th century style.

Another style that is always representative of the mid-Victorian era is the Gothic Revival. Many public buildings were designed in this style. St Pancras hotel and many of Britain’s most fabulous country houses are in the Gothic Revival style. These grand homes belonged to rich magnates who chose this style to reflect ancestry and history, therefore the interiors had to reflect a depth of eclectic knowledge, and reference previous symbols of wealth. The Mirror Company adores the mid-Victorian age, and is proud to be able help with any enquiry regarding frames and mirrors that suit these beautiful.

The frame below is an example of a piece that we have made to order for clients who require the finest re creations of frames and mirrors to suit the Mid-Victorian period. Please use the enquiry form or phone The Mirror Company where we are always happy to help.

In the 1870s the eclectic clutter of the mid Victorian era was still very much a middle-class ideal interior to inspire to. However, like the mid Victorian Gothics revivalists, one man arrived on the scene to try and change the mass production factory line idealism of the mid Victorian era and revive the art of individual craftsmanship.

William Morris looked to the mediaeval era to try and revive the skill of the maker's creative role and work against the ugliness of indusrty. Morris had the idea that homes and furnishings should be split into 2 categories: "workaday" and "state". Workaday furniture should be honest, well-made functional items lacking ornament and showing the signs of craftmanship/ handfinishing. Imagine a bare oak chair with a rushed seat.

State furniture however should be ornate delicate and full of exquisite individual craftsmanship, with sideboards and even wallpapers being hand-crafted with a modern look on old themes.

The Arts and Crafts movements were simply trying to go back to pre-industrial times and back even further to mediaeval times where furniture for every day use was practical, hand-made and unfussy. However, few people at the time wanted to furnish their homes in a completely contemporary theme, and (although there was a breath of fresh air from the Morris group) the Victorian era continued to collect and keep treasures and references to sentimental objects - essentially references to their past and present wealth. This opens a nice avenue to the frame or mirror purchaser, choose from our traditional range and you will find Victorian stylised designs on many of our frames, or look below at our range of mirrors that we think offer an interesting thought on the Morris movement against the Victorian era. The Mirror Company can refence any pre-Victorian styles, and provide handmade examples for every period of furniture that the Victorians collected so lovingly.

Please use the enquiry form or ring The Mirror Company, where we are always happy to help.

The 1st world war sent a wave of a new beginning through Europe. A new kind of style developed and these attempted to try and blow away the dust of the war. Two of these were art Deco and Art Noveau these styles were bold clean gave rise to cleaner lines in furniture and architectutre and moved on the Modernist movement. From now, lines would be clean an simple and this would move into mass-produced items such as Hoover Vacuum cleaners who even had their iconic building built the then revolutionary Art Deco style. Mirrors and furnishings were very different from those that the world had seen before. The French lead the way the, and British soon followed. Now, in Britain, we have many listed buildings, cinemas, cafes and outdoor swimming pools left from this iconic era.

Mirrors are a joy in this period and The Mirror Company has many of styles of Art Deco style mirrors made from only the highest quality materials. We regularly fabricate Art Deco mirrors for varying clients whether for a cutting edge 1930's house that wants to revive a very interesting historical period or ambitious stylish clients that want simpilicity with iconic style. You will be amazed at our selection of Art Deco Mirrors.

Please use the enquiry form or phone The Mirror Company where we are always happy to help.

The USA came out of the second world war a proud industrially powerful nation. Their productive marketing of cinema to the rest of the world meant that the USA had a powerful influence of theyr style on the rest of the world. Designers such as Charles Eames worked with Europen designers such as Hans Knoll and and eeoro Saarin produces organic modernist forms of furniture that had an emphasis on fun as much as functionality. Many styles came out of the American Rock and Roll era with their large cars and stylised clothing were the beginnings of a classes way of dressing. Furniture began to be mass produced in contoured plastics and be influenced by the Scandanavian style the use of stained woods and simple forms began to appear for the first time perhaps this was the beginning of what we now know of the “Ikea” generation. Many items fro the 60’s and 70’s are becoming very collectable and symbolise a very interesting era of style and mass production as well as the beginnings of the technological age that we are now so involved in.

The Mirror Company collects many examples of mirrors from this age and regularly sources pieces for clients.

Please use the enquiry form or phone The Mirror Company where we are always happy to help.

A lot of framers sit in a strange void at the moment and seem to wonder where a framer stands in terms of the sporaddic fazes of modern pictures and mirrors. At The Mirror Company our experience is to offer a simple service for framing pictures and mirrors. We use traditional methods using the best material and tools available so that we can help. We are able to handle large runs of corporate framing right down to canvas strtcher making, aluminium panels and conservation framing work. We have regular clients, including many very well known contemporary artists, on our books who have come to know and trust our workshop and we also have many frames and artworks on display.

Why not come and visit us and have a day out on the beautiful Malvern Hills.

The frame below is an example of a piece that we have made to order for clients who require the finest re creations of frames and mirrors to suit the contemporary modern frame and mirror buyer. Please use the enquiry form or phone The Mirror Company where we are always happy to help.