Antique Mirror vs Mercury Glass
Modern antique mirror contains no mercury. It recreates the look of old mercury mirrors using real silver, safely and to any size.
The terms “antique mirror”, “mercury mirror” and “mercury glass” are often used interchangeably, but they describe three different things.
At a glance
Three different things
| Mercury mirror | Mercury glass | Antiqued mirror (today) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Historic mirror plate | Decorative glassware: vases, candlesticks, baubles | New mirror glass, aged by hand |
| Reflective layer | Tin foil and liquid mercury amalgam | Silver solution sealed inside double-walled glass | Real silver, chemically distressed and sealed |
| Contains mercury? | Yes | No, despite the name | No |
| When | c.1500s to around 1900 | From the mid-19th century | Today |
| Can be toughened or made to size? | No | Not applicable | Yes |
Mercury mirrors
The original antique mirrors
For around 400 years, from Renaissance Venice until about 1900, mirrors were made by laying glass over tin foil flooded with liquid mercury. The two formed an amalgam that clung to the back of the glass.
As these mirrors age, the amalgam crystallises, the mercury slowly migrates and evaporates, and corrosion leaves grey clouding, dark spots, a crystalline sparkle and beads of mercury gathering at the bottom of the frame. This beautiful decay is exactly the character that antiqued mirror recreates. Because they can release mercury, historic mercury mirrors need careful handling.
Mercury mirror conservation →Mercury glass
A name that misleads
“Mercury glass” usually means decorative double-walled glassware, popular from the mid-1800s as an affordable alternative to solid silver. A silvering solution was poured between the two walls and the opening sealed. Despite the name, it is silvered, not made with mercury. Today the term is also used loosely for any aged, speckled mirror.
Antiqued mirror
How we make it today
Silvering glass with a silver solution, developed by the chemist Justus von Liebig in 1835, gradually replaced mercury in the 19th century. We still use hand-poured silver, then apply a resist as it forms to create thinner areas, so the distressing shows through once the backing is applied. Every panel is unique.
- No mercury, so it’s safe for kitchens, bathrooms and public spaces.
- Made to measure, in large panels, tiles and shapes, with cutouts for sockets.
- Can be toughened to BS EN 12150 for splashbacks behind hobs and range cookers.
- Your choice of character, from barely aged Foxed to dramatic Really Rough. Our Mercury Sparkle finish recreates the sparkle of a degrading mercury plate.
Which do I need?
Choosing for your project
- For a splashback, feature wall or new mirror: antiqued mirror, made to your sizes.
- To replace a broken or missing plate in an antique frame: antiqued mirror matched to the age of the frame, often Foxed or Mercury Sparkle.
- If you own an original mercury mirror: it can be conserved, or the mercury safely removed and the original glass resilvered.
- For an authentic period piece: browse our collection of original antique mirrors.
See the difference
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Samples are refundable when returned clean and undamaged within 30 days.
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