The Titus convex mirror is a bit of a departure because of the shape. The shape replicates the look of 17th century Flemish frames. I covered the recessed areas with a fan-like pattern made of black Venetian rods.
This mirror is about 16 inches high and 14 inches wide.
It is in my studio until being shipped to one of my showrooms.
Jewelry for walls!
Antique reproduction Dutch Frame Hermanus Koekkoek the Elder, 19 century Dutch marine painting
Visitors to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
The Titus type of frames were the most common in the baroque Flanders/Netherlands of the seventeenth century, in which Protestantism was stripping away the excesses of Catholic decorative tradition. The straight lines of these frames were radically different from the voluptuous curves and gold of the high Baroque. The use of dark or ebonized woods in the making of the frames was the most popular in order to contrast with off white plaster walls that were meant to maximize interior light. Taxes were paid according to the size of the front of the house, which made homes narrower for a lower tax. Narrow homes meant that more natural light was needed so large windows added to the light that illuminated the interiors of Dutch buildings.
Currently, the value and appreciation of these frames are on the rise due to museums and important institutions flushing them out of people’s attics, with the aim of giving Dutch paintings the frames they would have had in the 16th/17th centuries.
Pieter Janssens Elinga, circa 1670. Dim Northern light made white walls and big windows a must in the Netherlands.
Rembrandt’s portrait of his son, Titus circa 1657.
Early portrait of Rembrandt’s son Titus circa 1655.
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