Ornamental mirror

This impressive mirror is approximately 3.6 metres high. It consists of a rectangular main mirror with mirror strips and a wooden frame decorated with silver sheet metal. The gold-coloured crown to the mirror shows an oval-shaped heraldic seal of the House of Nassau. The stamps on the ornamental mirror reveal that it was made between 1735 and 1750 in a silver engraving workshop in Augsburg. According to research carried out in the princely ‘pension chamber’ (Rentkammer) in Bad Laasphe, it most probably comes from the estate of Amalie Louise of Nassau-Siegen (1687-1750). Initially it was kept in the Lower Castle in Siegen. It was last documented in the ‘State Room’ of Wittgenstein Castle. There it was auctioned off to the Siegerlandmuseum in 1950. Prior to its restoration in 2007, the frame appeared to be made of ebony, as the silver plates had tarnished due to sulphidation. The restoration brought the high-quality silver sheets back to light. The traces of repair were deliberately left as part of the restoration concept.