1986.008.1499a
Frame
Physical Object
1986.008.1499a
Nuestra Señora de Atocha (1622)
circa 1620
This oval frame was likely designed for a convex mirror. Convex mirrors, which broadened the viewing perspective, were at the outside edge of early-modern glassmaking technology and were expensive and prized items. The earliest examples of mirrors, from Greco-Roman to Medieval times, were simply made of highly polished metal, and they were small and not terribly reflective. In the sixteenth century, Venetian glassmakers perfected the backing of glass with an amalgam of tin and mercury, and their technique spread rapidly to other countries. Because large mirrors were expensive to create, smaller ones like this were more commonly seen. The frame could also be the remains of a reliquary. Reliquaries are shrine-like containers designed to hold sacred objects ranging from bones or hair of religious figures or articles they had worn or used, to objects associated with miracles, among others. See also 1986.008.1499b--k. Photographed with 1986.008.1499b, e, f.