SET OF TWO ORNAMENTAL MIRRORS. GILT WOOD. ROCCOCO, 18TH CENTURY.

Pair of cornucopias. Carved and gilded wood. Century XVIII. Pair of cornucopias of carved and gilded wood decorated with a fine molding on the inside and an elaborate composition of plant elements with distressed shapes on the outside, leaving empty spaces and with a marked asymmetry in both, tempered by carving both examples with the same decoration. This type of work was only carried out for main houses, since its main use was to reflect the light of candles and lamps in these luxurious interiors, also showing the economic power of its owners. The method of manufacturing mirrors from sheets of glass was discovered in Venice in the 16th century, and was kept secret until approximately a century later, when the role of mercury in the process was known in London and Paris, allowing the expansion of these elements. However, the use of cornucopias did not spread throughout Europe until the Rococo, and their use and creation has continued since then. From the beginning and, with the idea of showing the economic prosperity of its owner and helping with illumination, it was normal for it to be overgilded after being carved. The movement that the pieces present inside, where the mirror would go, provides a first clue to place it in an artistic style. As for its decoration, the plant elements, the braces, the curved shapes contrasting with countercurves and the distressed details refer to the clear belonging of the two examples to the Rococo, differentiating them both from the 18th century examples with greater neoclassical influence, and from those of the 19th. The asymmetry that each of the cornucopias has in its decoration refers to the beginning of this style, since, after a time, the contrasts of this artistic style were softened by placing the decoration in markedly symmetrical compositions.

· Size: 64x25x110 cms.