Mirror
Author: Unknown
Origin: Unknown
Dating: 17th century
Material: Wood & Glass
Dimensions (cm): 83,2 x 61,8
Inv. no.: PD0562
Mirrors date back to 6000 BC, when inhabitants of Anatolia (part of modern-day Turkey) began polishing sheets of volcanic rock. From 4000 to 3000 BC, people from Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) and Egypt used polished copper plates. In China, around a thousand years later, bronze was used.
The first glass mirrors were created by artisans in Venice (Italy) in the early 14th century. Their reflective layer consisted of a mixture of tin and mercury.
In 1835, the German chemist Justus von Liebig developed a method of applying a thin layer of metallic silver to the glass, giving way to modern mirrors. This new technique – which was safer, simpler and cheaper – popularised the use of mirrors throughout the world.
