Delicate Petite Venetian Mirror circa 1900- 27½" x 16¼"

This petite Venetian mirror from Murano, Italy, late 19th century, features an arched silhouette framed by clear glass borders etched with slender foliate sprigs and accented with applied rosettes. Rope-twist glass canes define the uprights, while a crown of ribbed glass flowers enhances the ornate profile. Matching floral ornaments accent the lower corners and apron, and a small etched scroll cartouche adorns the plate. The glass remains bright and clear, with the original silvered mirror showing scattered age spotting. Condition is good and timeworn, with one loss to an upper corner element and minor nicks to a few high points, all consistent with age.

Venetian mirrors have been prized since the 17th century for their theatrical sparkle and virtuoso glasswork, and by the late 19th century Murano workshops revived these earlier baroque and rococo idioms for an international clientele. The combination of hand-formed floral appliqués, rope-twist canes, and acid-etched plates typifies Murano production of this period, when firms adapted traditional techniques to lighter, more ornamental frames suited to smaller rooms and urban apartments. Such mirrors served both as practical dressing pieces and as luminous wall decoration, amplifying candlelight and later gas and electric light with a jewelled effect.

Its intimate scale makes it ideal for a powder room, a dressing nook, or placed above a narrow console in an entry, where the arched crest draws the eye upward and adds sparkle without overwhelming the space.