Featured Need help dating family mirror

Hey, I was wondering if any of you can date this mirror so we know what generation of my family it is from. It's made of solid but pretty lightweight wood, there is about a centimeter of space between the glass and the back panel. Quite some damage along the sides, lost and bend nails. The design is pretty simple and the size is about 30x30 cm. Big spots on the (mercury?) sheet but no damage on the glass.

Just a approx. date is amazing, value doesn't matter not selling this.

Thanks!
- L.J.

 

nice.....

 

@Ghopper1924, @verybrad ???

 

Not sure on this one. My gut reaction is that it is early 20th century but there are some things that say it could be quite a bit older.... The thick non-beveled mirror, exagerated modeling to the frame, chamferred solid back to name a few. Was this a dresser mirror (any evidence of attachment at the sides)? Any square nails? Also, hard saying on wood. Maybe cherry.

 

Hi,

Thank you for breaking this down for me.
No square nails in sight all round. No attachments either. I thought it looked early industrial, because of the shape and the metal loop being so asymmetrical. Like the parts are not mass produced. Of course I do not know when people started doing that. Anyway you've been a huge help!

 

That kind of damage of the quicksilver is exactly what some people like about it, for some reason.
I'm inclined to say it could be a whole lot earlier. One would have to see it from up close of course, but the shape, the glass, the patina... All the darn nails are wrong, though, except those three holding the very-old-looking smithy-made hanging loop. A tricky one.

 

Hey thank you!

Maybe the nails were added later? If you look at the second picture at the bottom, there seem to be empty holes very close to current nails. Perhaps the original nails were not enough/losing their grip and someone put many more in.
Maybe it even got a 'new' backpanel at some point because wood looks kind of different from the frame. But maybe that is just cheaper wood for the part that no one sees.

 

I would say ca. 1870, due to the shape of the mirror frame. Cherry or mahogany for the wood. The back wood is definitely a rougher cut, but probably original.
Love this mirror as it is; it may have lost function due to fogging, but at the same time it now looks more like an artwork you'd hang on the wall. Yet another reason why antiques beat Ikea any day.

 

The new nails, and all the holes you see in the back panel, which looks original BYW, are "maintenance" of sorts. Where bits of wood are missing you can see one or two different kind of nail holes in the frame (it wouldn't be usual for the board to split at the nail hole after some expanding/contracting). They would have been much more sparse with the nails originally. At any rate, very nice!

 

Thank yo so much for your answer! It reflects fine (aside from the damage of course) but you couldn't see it in the sunlight. Not sure where I'll hang it. This was taken from above the toilet but I am worried about the bad air affecting the mirror and the rest of my place is mainly IKEA haha. I recieved a drill recently so I will figure it out.

 

Thanks everyone! If it's really from ca. 1870 I'll make sure it gets to be 200 years old!

 

the bad air.....?

that's funny !!!

 

(I am always SO delighted when I guess, and then Brad agrees with me!! And, like ghopper, I'd consider it artwork. Hang it near something Ikea-white and starkish. )