Modernist Brass and Brushed Steel Floral Wreath Sunburst Mirror. France. Circa 1970.

The sunburst mirror reached its creative apogee in the postwar decades, when French decorators and metalworkers translated its solar iconography into a remarkable variety of forms, from the severely geometric to the exuberantly organic. This example, produced in France around 1970, belongs to the organic tradition: its frame is built up from a wreath of circular brass rings, each of polished finish, linked and enlivened by small brushed steel foliate or berry sprigs that fill the interstices and project outward from the perimeter. The result is a frame that reads simultaneously as botanical and abstract, its repeating circular motifs creating a hypnotic rhythm that draws the eye around the full circumference before resolving at the central mirror.

The combination of polished brass and brushed steel is a characteristic refinement of the period, exploiting the contrast between the warm, reflective gold of the brass rings and the cooler, matte silver of the steel detailing. This bimetallic play was a signature of the more adventurous French decorative metalwork of the 1960s and 1970s, used to add visual complexity and depth to compositions that might otherwise read as merely decorative. Here it is deployed with considerable skill: the brass rings catch and concentrate the light, while the steel sprigs recede slightly, reinforcing the sense that the frame is a living thing, like a garland of flowers seen in strong raking light.

At just over fifty centimetres in diameter, the mirror is well-scaled for a variety of domestic positions: above a mantelpiece, at the centre of a gallery wall, in an entrance hall, or as a focal point in a bedroom. Its circular form and ornamental frame give it presence without heaviness, and its mixed-metal palette allows it to harmonise with a wide range of interior schemes, from period to contemporary. The circular mirror plate reflects the surrounding space with a mild, flattering depth.

In very good condition, retaining its original brass and brushed steel frame with natural patination. A characterful and accomplished piece of French decorative mirror-making, demonstrating the vitality of the craft during one of its most inventive periods.