Object of the Day: Antique Painted Tri-fold Shaving Mirror

Leave it to the mid-Nineteenth-Century English to imbue something as pedestrian as a shaving mirror with an entirely new level of style. At first glance, this is a fluid landscape painting in an ebonized wooden frame carved to resemble bamboo. Against an angry sky, a nautical scene plays out in front of ominous-looking gray stone towers


However, on closer inspection, you can see that there’s a little brass latch to the right of the painting. Unhook the latch and you reveal a mirror. But, not just a mirror. There’s another painting. This time, we have waves breaking against a rocky shore. Little figures scurry into a typically English cottage nestled into the crags.

But, that isn’t all. Behind that painting is another mirror, and, on its reverse, still another mirror. Opening into a trifold, you now have a three-way mirror to allow the user to see all sides of his face as he shaves.

A very clever design, mirrors such as this would have adorned a gentleman’s room and provided a necessary service while hiding away something as commonplace as a shaving mirror. This is an object that speaks volumes about Victorian ingenuity, mastery of design and functionality. Even the simplest of objects were elevated to new levels of artistry.