Vintage Spanish Giltwood Sunburst Mirror, 1940s-1960s

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Vintage Spanish Giltwood Sunburst Mirror, 1940s-1960s


A proper Spanish sunburst — carved wood, real gilding, and the good kind of … Read more Vintage Spanish Giltwood Sunburst Mirror, 1940s-1960s


A proper Spanish sunburst — carved wood, real gilding, and the good kind of age. The round plate sits inside a scalloped gilt band, and out from it burst clustered wooden rays in staggered lengths, so the whole rim flickers like light off water. Look closely and you can see the red bole — the clay ground gilders lay under gold leaf — glowing through where the gilding has worn, which is exactly what you want: it is how a hand-gilded surface ages, and no reproduction gets it right.

The mirror plate is the old one, with a scatter of dark spots that reads as age rather than damage; it still reflects perfectly well. Mirrors like this were carved and water-gilded in Spanish workshops through the 1940s to 1960s, using methods unchanged since the Baroque, and decorators have loved them ever since — one over a mantel or a bed, or a constellation of them in different sizes up a stair wall.

Two feet across, so it carries a room without dominating it. Hang it where the afternoon light can catch the rays.

Dimensions
Diameter: 24.5 inches; Depth: 3 inches See less