Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who's The Fairest of Them All?

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who's The Fairest of Them All?

Ciao bella,

Many countries and different centuries claim the discovery of the mirror! However, I found some interesting facts on the mirror, a precious tool of beauty and reflection. It can also be an object for dismay, disappointment, and the truth of what is beauty as we see it.

The first mirrors in ancient times were dark colored container of water. Then in Turkey, around 6000 B.C., people started doing non-water mirrors with highly polished volcanic glass.

Then in Mesopotamia, around 4000 B.C., polished copper mirrors were around. The Chinese were making bronze mirrors in 2000 B.C.

Jumping to the 16th century, Venice was already well known for its blown glass. Mirrors were made from glass with a tin/mercury backing producing an extremely similar reflection we experience today. The Venetians mirror making was precious, lucrative and top secret, so that a renegade craftsmen who tried to sell the formula was assassinated!

It's always been said that in this beginning of reflection, the mirror could only be afforded by the wealthy. The materials to make this high quality mirror and their delicate transport made for a luxurious expense!

Lowering the price of the mirror came from the French. When they learned how the Venetian glass blowers were making the mirror they began mass producing them inevitably lowering the prices in Western Europe.

Today the modern process in making a mirror is called "silvering", by spraying a thin layer of silver or aluminum onto the backside of a sheet of glass. However, most mirrors

Buona giornata and God bless the United States of America!

Mary N. DiZazzo-Trumbull

Read prior weeks' "All That Zazz" columns at www.allthatzazz.com. Mary is a third-generation cosmetologist and a Massachusetts distributor of Kosmea brand rose hip oil products. She may be contacted at (978) 470-8183 or mary@mary4nails.com.