Dutch Carved Pocket Mirror, Sixteenth Century, Antique Print, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in rich golds and ochers with touches of dark blue, lettered "MIROIR DE POCHE, BOIS SCULPTÉ, TRAVAIL HOLLANDAIS DU XVIe SIECLE. Collection de Mr Sauvageot, à Paris." The two faces of the same mirror are shown side by side. At the left is the front, a round silvery glass in a molded ring, set in a lozenge shaped frame carved with scrolls, masks, small figures in oval niches and a seated figure at the top, and studded with dark blue stones. At the right is the back, where a roundel shows a woman raising a sword beside other figures, below a cartouche lettered "GEDENCT DES WYFS LOTHS" (remember Lot's wife).

The running head reads "LE MOYEN-AGE ET LA RENAISSANCE." and "OBJETS DE TOILETTE, Pl. XI." (toilet articles, plate 11). The credits are "Soltau del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier" and "Kellerhoven lith.", with "F. Séré direxit" at the foot. In English the caption reads: Pocket mirror, carved wood, Dutch work of the sixteenth century. Collection of Mr. Sauvageot, Paris.

Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance was edited by Paul Lacroix, who also wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, with Ferdinand Séré directing the illustrations, and it was published in Paris in five volumes between 1848 and 1851. The work surveys the manners, customs, trade, industry, sciences and arts of Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, and its chapters were illustrated with plates after objects in museums, churches and private collections of the day. This plate belongs to the fourth volume, issued in 1851.

With its lettering intact, the plate suits a plain mat and a simple frame, and it hangs well beside other plates from the same chapter.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.