The Xanadu convex mirror is a continuation of my fascination with lapis-lazuli; the beautiful mineral of intense, rich blue slashed with gradations of gray and white, speckled with gold.
The thick gold metal leafed frame is surrounded with lapis-lazuli spheres that are the size of small oranges. The inner surface of the frame is stacked with three shades of transparent blue Venetian glass rods. The central mirror is almost a half sphere.
The Xanadu convex mirror is about 15 inches in diameter. It hangs in my studio pending being shipped to one of my showrooms/venues.
Jewelry for Walls!
The name of this mirror, Xanadu, is from a poem written by Samuel Coleridge in 1797. Who could not be inspired by the first stanza:
Xanadu also is a reference in Orson Welles’ masterpiece film, Citizen Kane( 1941). It is the vast estate built by the central character, Charles Foster Kane. The estate is a parody of the actual mountain top estate built by William Randolph Hearst, San Simeon. The film is inspired by the career and life of Hearst, much to his dismay.
I another example of building a “pleasure dome” would be the Anglo-Indian chinoiserie fantasy, the Brighton Pavilion. It was built by another megalomaniac, George IV of England in 1787.
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