Mirror; Vienna, Austria, c. 1900.

Mirror; Vienna, Austria, c. 1900.
Porcelain enameled plates mounted in frame on velvet ground.
Two of the plates have slight intervention and slight flaws.
Measurements: 33,5 x 28,5 x 1,5 cm.
Viennese decorative mirror, dated around 1900, whose structure consists of a set of enameled porcelain plates finely painted and mounted on a frame lined in dark purple velvet. It is a piece representative of the refined taste and technical virtuosity of the Viennese school of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly linked to the workshops specialized in "hand-painted porcelain", highly appreciated by the bourgeoisie and aristocracy of the time.
The structure of the frame is symmetrically organized, divided into compartments that house in vertical and horizontal rectangular plates, each with a high quality enameled miniature. The scenes depicted, which evoke an Arcadian world of gods, muses, love affairs and cherubs, are inspired by classical mythology and late rococo, drawing on the iconography and style of artists such as François Boucher and Angelika Kauffmann. These images allude to idealized beauty, love play and nature as an idyllic setting.
Each of the miniatures has been rendered with a high level of detail and a chromatic palette is soft and nuanced, with a predominance of pinks, lilacs, blues and earth tones. The figures show delicate anatomies, flowing folds of clothing and serene expressions, framed by bucolic landscapes and neoclassical-inspired architecture.
In short, this piece can be attributed to the Viennese school of enamel on porcelain, active mainly in the last decades of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It probably comes from a workshop influenced by the tradition of the Wiener Porzellanmanufaktur, or even linked to the production of luxury objects by firms such as Franz Bergman or Ernst Wahliss, who promoted a synthesis between decorative arts, mythology and modernity.