Object Literature
Cupid’s symbols are the arrow, whip and torch, “because love wounds and inflames the heart” whilst a winged Cupid subduing a ferocious lion embodies the notion that “love conquers all,” drawn from Ovid and Virgil. The portrayal of Cupid as a chubby child dates to the Renaissance.
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the development of decorative mirrors in Italy. The cylinder process, where cylinders of glass were blown then split open and laid flat, had some limitations meaning that only small plates could be made, so several pieces of glass would be used to create a single mirror.
A trumeau mirror is a wall mirror originally manufactured in France in the 18th century. It takes its name from the French word trumeau, which designates the space between windows. In England it is normally known as a ‘pier glass’. Trumeau mirrors were originally intended to hang on a wall between windows, providing a decorative element and bringing more light to the room. Most antique trumeau mirrors are highly ornate, like this one, and often gilded. The mirror is almost always rectangular and sometimes includes a decorative portion at the top, with the mirror below it as, this example does.
A hugely decorative and attractive mirror, Cupid; we’ve fallen for you…