Story Of Venetian Mirrors

By Author: Deborah Smith
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Mirrors are taken with no consideration in the present world, however the invention and innovation of the mirror has a fascinating chronicle. The charm of a mirror has always been clear- it allows an individual to look at and understand their own image with every line and blemish on their face reflected, nothing hidden. The reflection of light and dark over the surface of the mirror is so perfect that it practically is unrivaled. Without the reflection in the mirror, no-one would take satisfaction in their appearance. Due to this ability to reflect light and show appearance so precisely and incredibly, mirrors were widely believed to have magical powers.

The seven years of bad luck for someone who breaks the mirror is often blamed on the breaking of the mirror itself. The superstition stems from age old beliefs that the gods themselves were the creators of mirror . The mirrors ability to reflect the image continues to be a coveted experience for those who first behold it way back in prehistory. The oldest or earliest types of mirrors were highly polished surfaces of metal which were one of the most important and treasured ...
... things that a woman could own even in ancient Roman and Egyptian times. The mirrors of old weren't made like they're made today, then glass and mercury weren't yet discovered to produce mirrors. It was the artisans who worked on glass who made innovations on the mirror. Before this, the word "mirror" represented any material that had been fashioned in a way that allowed the consumer to see their reflection. In modern-day, when one hears the word "mirror" they associate it with sheet of glass used as either an object of decoration or as a household object. Mirrors can be extremely commonplace objects, and you'd be hard pushed to search out a home without one. But this was not always the case. What you, dear reader, are going to read on would be the evolution of how the Venetian glass makers made wonders out of glass and produced the world famous Venetian glass mirrors.

The history of glass making of mirrors began in 1255 when artisans, the manufacturers of pearls, flasks and glass, settled in Murano, Italy, the birthplace of now famous Venetian mirror. Murano was a place that meant security for the artisans who didn't want their secrets to become known by other traders. Venetian glass makers hurried to join them to be included in protection. These glass makers later produced the excellent quality of Venetian glass which shortly got innovated into the world famous Venetian glass mirrors . In the 15th century, glass from Murano was known throughout Europe because of the excellent glassware, beauty and elegance. The Murano artisans were able to discover a fresh way to produce glass which could now be created into large sheets rather than small objects, plus the secret of coveted crystal produced oggeto d' arte.

The quality of Venetian glass was accredited to 3 key secrets. The first was the composition of the salt and soda in Italian silica it was made from. The second was the type of flame used during the firing process and the third was the salinity of the ocean water used. By this time, the quality, composition, beauty and elegance of the Venetian glass surpassed all other glass works which eventually rendered other glass industries to fold or get categorized as low quality. At the same time when Venetian glass making began, so did the assembly of the glass mirrors. With the superior quality in glass making, came also the necessity to possess the standard glass mirror that only the artisans could produce. The Venetian glass makers were already famed for their elegant and delightful style of glass production, so at the beginning of the 16th century, Venice became a center of mirror production. The Venetian artisans were highly doing well in producing their world famous glass and crystals and in addition their prominent Venetian mirrors. Try as they could, other glass makers world wide could never quite produce exactly the same quality of pure glass as the Venetians did.

Despite the greater demand for Venetian mirrors, just a few could find the money for them and this made the acquisition difficult for three hundred years. Again, highly polished metal like steel were in much demand to satisfy the necessity for affordable mirrors. The steel mirrors could never match the standard of Venetian mirrors despite its affordable price and simple acquisition. Venetian mirrors were coveted after. They were exported not just throughout Europe, but additionally towards the East. Indian maharajahs ordered a bulks of Venetian mirrors to be used as decorations for their elaborately designed palaces like those in Lahore and Isfahan.

- Because of the need to keep quality, the 16th to the 18th centuries was a time when the Venetian mirrors were in greatest demand but the availability was low, however, the steel mirrors were bought by many . The steel mirrors took care of the needs of a population.

- Only those that were the very rich and those who had the best connections could procure or get hold of the Venetian mirrors. As an example of how expensive the Venetian mirrors are, a boutique in rue Saint-Jacques in Paris owned by Andre Clement the "Fleur de Lys," lists a 1520 inventory of "two mirrors from Venice" having a price of over £5,500. These Venetian mirrors were so high-priced they usually were also very hard to locate in those times.

- There were plenty of materials used in making mirrors by the 17th century, but these were mostly produced from metals like gold, silver, and steel, however, once one sees their reflection from the Venetian glass, the other mirrors of course paled in comparison.

- Before 1581-1622 in Paris there have been only nine Venetian glass mirrors in two hundred and forty eight estate inventories.

- £8000 was the purchase price of a 16th century Venetian mirrors, that is certainly how expensive they were, just how much are they worth now.

- Due to the financial depression in Italy stripping it of various customers, Venice enlarged its initiatives toward foreign markets and focused these efforts on France, one of its best customers.

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