Mirrors

A Mirror is an object designed to reflect light in such a way that that any object in front of it appears to be produced as an exact replica behind the surface glass.

The archaic term ‘looking-glass’ denotes the most common use of mirrors for looking at oneself for personal grooming. They are widely used in decoration and architecture.

Mirrors were first manufactured around 6000 BC fashioned from polished stone like obsidian, a volcanic glass that occurs naturally. In later antiquity in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, India and China, mirrors were produced by polishing metals such as bronze, copper and later silver. The value of these metals meant that only the richest could afford them and they were also prone to oxidisation (corrosion). Metals also produced a darker image and so were not very suitable for indoor use, particularly in candle and firelight.

Venetian glassmakers in Murano invented plate glass mirrors in the 1500s. The covered the back of a piece of plate glass with mercury which enabled the production of an undistorted and near-perfect reflection. Venetian mirrors became very prized luxury decorations and went on to be installed in palaces across Europe. The Venetians managed to hang on to the secret of mercury until it was finally stolen by industrial espionage and arrived in Paris and London in the 1600s. The workshops in Paris succeeded in industrialising the process making it quicker and cheaper to produce mirrors, which eventually led to them becoming more affordable to ordinary people.

Mercury was toxic and difficult to work with, so modern mirrors now use other coatings including aluminium and silver.