Edwardian embossed silver hand mirror

Charming Edwardian silver hand mirror, with its original bevelled glass, and embossed in fine detail showing off the silversmith's skills with elaborate images of cherubim, scrolls, and profuse foliage.

It was the Romans who brought us the earliest mirrors - hand mirrors. Owing to the reflective qualities of the metal's highly polished surface, they were usually made of silver.

The mirror has become a totemic adornment throughout history. Apart from its practicality, it has evolved from playing an important part in home decoration to also becoming a portable personal accessory.

During the early Renaissance, a superior method of coating glass with a tin-mercury amalgam was perfected and Venice, a city famous for its glassmaking, became a centre of high quality mirror manufacturing. By the mid 1800s, mirror was extensively made in London and Paris too and the frames were usually made of silver, ivory, ebony or tortoiseshell.