Details give the best sense of the hand-painted decoration all around the face of this antique mirror, including of what I take for a little lamb (though maybe a dog) at the feet of the shepherdess, and what looks like a horn in the hands of her male counterpart on the other side facing her, and then quivers of arrows at top and bottom--so let's call this a valentine! The paint is old and the whole thing quite heavy for its size, with jointed corners, a scattering of worm holes on the sides, and a series of stenciled numbers on the back. 19th century I believe, and perhaps those stenciled numbers indicate the year of its making (188_), but I am not at all certain about that. Part of me thinks Italian, something about the quality of the red paint, while part of me--their faces, maybe--thinks Spanish Colonial. I've had little luck turning up another similar either way. (I found it in Central Massachusetts, sitting next to a nice early lemon gold frame.) Whatever the case, quite a charming one I think, which certainly feels as if nodding to a courting mirror.
9 3/4" x 7 3/4" x 5/8". Good condition, sturdy and sound. Old brown paper backing the frame has torn loose, showing board underneath that is very tightly plugging it, so I did not feel compelled to try to open it. The mirror appears to me to be original to the frame, showing just very minor aging/imperfections. General wear and aging to the paint adding up to a very nice patina.
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