The orchestrated opulence of the State Apartment is also reflected in its portable items of furniture. Take a look at the two mirrors, one above the fireplace, and the other on the pier between the windows. They are lavishly adorned with gold etchings on a dark ground. In around 1700, mirrors were still portable fittings that were hung in front of the wall like paintings. That was the original plan for these mirrors. However, by the time the State Apartment was being furnished and decorated, that had changed. Mirrors were increasingly being treated as fixtures and integrated into the wall decoration above fireplaces and on window piers.
Both mirrors had been put into storage during the Second World War. While the mirror glass and the gilded mounts on the frames have not survived, the glass mouldings, decorated in a technique known as “Amelierung”, have largely been successfully restored. This decorative technique involves applying gold leaf to a glass base and scraping it off to reveal a pattern. Afterwards, the whole is painted on the reverse with colour lacquer. The gold scenes contrast with the coloured background to great effect.
In around 1700, producing the original mirror glass, which at the time consisted of a single large pane, was very expensive. The glass casting process for the new, large sizes had only been discovered a few years earlier, so there were teething problems. As a result, the proportion of rejects was extremely high, which was of course reflected in exorbitant prices. Sadly, none of the original mirror glass has survived. But at least the decorative frame mouldings and the two top decorations have come down to us. The latter were thought to be lost until 1991, when they appeared on the art market and were successfully bought back for the refurnishing of Dresden’s Residenzschloss.
During research in connection with refurnishing the rooms, two candle stands emerged – what’s known as guéridons. They had previously been catalogued as 19th century pieces. But the investigations revealed that they were from the 18th century. Inventories show that they were verifiably among the appointments of the First Anteroom, so that is where they now stand once again. The guéridons were re-finished to a very high standard in the 19th century and are presented in that form. The decision was deliberate – not only because only small amounts of the original gilding had survived, but also in order to honour the history of these pieces.
