SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY

The octagonal form of this mirror reveals a strong Moorish cultural influence. Geometric concentric and interlaced design was popular throughout the Islamic world from the 12th Century onwards. With its spreading bands of plates, the form reveals the Moorish love of multiplicity and play of light. These aspects, combined with the traditional European Baroque features of fruiting foliate-carved decoration reflect the rich European-Moorish cultural mix of 17th Century Spain. For a related Spanish mirror of the same period, with octagonal outer slips, see G. Child, World Mirrors, London, 1990, fig. 734.