(Welcome Anna! — Anna Hoffman is our new columnist for Retrospect, a weekly post exploring design history and its influence on current design & style)
The convex mirror has, in fact, gone in and out of style since the Eighteenth Century, when glassmakers in Louis XIV’s France figured out how to press plate glass into large flat mirrors (making possible the famous Hall of Mirrors at Versailles). Before that era, only the Venetians knew how to make flat mirrors — mirrors were otherwise blown by hand — and convex mirrors seem to have served the expected decorative function of adding light and reflection to interiors. Painters would also use the convex mirror as a tool of perspective. Jan van Eyck’s famous 1434 Arnolfini portrait (Image 1) contains the first known image of a convex mirror, included in part to show off the technical skill it took to reproduce the distorted reflection. The mirror’s frame is a crenellated sunburst, a Gothic harbinger of future styles.
The convex mirror was favored in the Neo-classical Regency and Georgian periods in England and America, in the early Nineteenth Century, often surmounted by eagles and surrounded by little spheres. It is this vintage of convex mirror that Dorothy Draper hung at the Greenbrier in the late 1940s, and that Billy Baldwin put in Diana Vreeland’s New York apartment in 1956 (Image 2). Tony Duquette, obsessed with the sunburst motif, would put convex hubcaps in sunburst frames, a cheeky, modern twist on Baroque excess (Image 3).
Today, the sunburst convex mirror remains a popular choice for injecting a little tasteful froth to a contemporary interior, while the more simple, geometrical examples can offer a gently masculine sobriety (Image 4). Convex mirrors of both varieties can be found at places like Jonathan Adler and Restoration Hardware (Image 5), as well as at antique shops everywhere.
(Images: 1 Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini Portrait (1434): National Gallery, London 2 The living room in Diana Vreeland's Park Avenue apartment, designed by Billy Baldwin in 1955: via Peak of Chic 3 Tony Duquette's hubcap screens, at his home, Dawnridge, redecorated by Hutton Wilkinson circa 2000: Tony Duquette 4 A recent Miles Redd interior: Thomas Loof/House Beautiful 5 Restoration Hardware "Marisol" mirror: Restoration Hardware)
Anna Hoffman received her Master's Degree in the History of Decorative Arts from Bard, and is now an instructor of Design History at Parsons.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Thanks Anna, for the interesting information. I'm looking forward to your next post!
view Elise_B's profile
love this post & really looking forward to reading more about design history. it's also interesting to consider how the convex mirror offers an alternative perception of the real world. whereas the traditional mirror mirrors reality, the convex mirror distorts it with its curvilinear perspective and i wonder if its popularity in history is linked to this desire to change reality. again, great stuff & love the rich images!
view timmy jr.'s profile
Nice! I'm going to enjoy the more educational change of pace from the abundance of decorative eye candy. Can you do a piece on British colonial styles sometime? :)
view Nephthys's profile
great idea for a weekly! loved this.
view bullyproofvest's profile
I'm so pleased to hear that this will be a weekly feature -- this has instantly become my all-time favorite post on AT, and I can't wait to read more of the same genre.
view eiw's profile
I'm going to look forward to these columns. The individual talent (or case) always springs from some tradition; it will be great to know the rhythms of repression and recovery. Certainly for a 'layman' like me.
view FigurativeSketches's profile
Thank you, Anna for a well-written and thought provoking article. I really look forward to reading more of these. Being an Art History buff with a secret desire to do Interior Design, this is perfect for me.
view saya*'s profile
Great addition!
view jen_g's profile
Anna, your columns are gonna make me way smarter.
view Jenny in DC's profile
anna, i love this! so fascinating -- and the paintings and photos you chose are amazing. i'm so glad you're here!!! xoxo
view joannagoddard's profile
Thank you AT for bringing Anna in to help educate and enlighten us all!
view bepsf's profile
Great post!! More please! Love the new blog and its blogger. In case people wanted to know what my favorite convex mirror was, it's the one featured in Blade Runner: http://www.putlearningfirst.com/br/grape/mirror.jpg
Its unique optics helped Deckard solve the mystery.
view Rob Paul's profile
How interesting!! With great visuals. A fab addition to AT.
view AmySandeFriedman's profile
I love a bit of historical perspective with a cool object attached. More please. . . Tabletop clocks next?
view drewpaluba's profile
I thought this post was going to be about the art and set decor used on the television show Growing Pains.
view Seaside's profile
what a wonderful addition to AT! such a lovely piece anna, keem em coming...
view sampsey's profile
Fabulous idea!
view sassafrassy's profile
I would also love to see more about British Colonial decor. It is my favorite style, but I have a difficult time finding anything on it past the basic this is British Colonial stuff and it would be nice to learn more about especially to avoid disasters when trying to mix styles or get an unique feel.
view gingerbookgoddess's profile