TRUMEAU MIRROR

"I'm glad I took a before picture of this project - I just wish I'd used my camera instead of my phone!  But at least you can get an idea of what it looked like "before".  This is a mirror I found at Goodwill, and by their standards, this was expensive!!!  I believe I paid $9.99 for it.  It is very heavy and solid wood.  

 I had seen a Trumeau Mirror on the Graphics Fairy a few weeks ago.  Before that, I had never heard of them.  I love to know the history behind the things I make, so I looked them up and here's what I found: 

"The trumeau mirror originated in France during the 18th century and are as popular today as they were then.  Trumeau mirrors were intended to hang on the wall between windows providing a decorative element to the wall as well as serve a purpose of bringing in more light.  Most antique trumeau mirrors are found painted, as the style of most homes during the 18th century homes were painted in rich faux work with ornate plaster frieze that ornamented the walls.

The trumeau mirror is quite easy to identify, as it is most often rectangular in design. The size of the mirror was dependant on the size of the mantle or the width of the wall on which the trumeau hung.  Trumeau mirrors are designed where the bottom portion is the mirror itself, while the top is generally decorative.   The lower portion of a trumeau is always a mirror, and placed behind a candle and served the purpose of bringing in more light in dimly lit homes.  Homes were not wired for electricity, so any way of bringing in light which extended the hours of  daylight was a necessity.  The upper portion of a trumeau contains a relief carved design, a painting, or a second mirror."

So here is the top portion of my mirror.  No decorative plaster, but still, an area just waiting for some decorative painting.  I planned on adding some gold to the mirror and that little decorative strip below the blank portion looked perfect for that.  So, back to the Graphics Fairy to find a design and I found this, a black and white printer's image.  I was only able to use a portion of the graphic due to the size of the space I had to work with.  Also, I took the wings off the cherubs.  I used the "pencil lead on the back of the paper" method!  

 Then I used some of this metallic finish on a decorative piece of wood that runs below the design and on some of the other raised areas on the mirror.

 There are a lot of metallic finishes out there - this one just goes on with a brush or rag.  

It's keeping my Santos Cage Doll company in the dining room!

-Nan



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