This Reverse gilded and silvered ornate mirror, was commissioned by Jameson Whiskey Dublin, Ireland for St. Patricks Day 2013. It was truly an honour to make this artwork for such a renowned world famous Whiskey company.

The techniques are as follows. Hand sketched design transfered to the back of the glass, The next stage was to brilliant cut part of the design using old stone wheels, and then to polish the cuts with a wood and felt wheel to bring them back to a crystal clear glass finish. The cuts were then masked out and numerous acid etchings were made to give various tones and depth to the glass and design. The etching process is an early turn of the century technique using Hydroflouric acid and distilled water in various ratios. The textured centre around the Jameson Shield is mica stippled which gives a mottled finish like fine hammered steel, a beautiful effect when silvered ,gilded or even left clear.

Deep sandblasting was used for the words IRISH WHISKEY and also the JJ&S design at the right corner in the marroon circle, this was then water gilded and painted.

The panel was then chemically silvered using silver nitrate, once this was backed up with a mirror backing paint the trumpets were gilded and scratched through with a fine knife to give shading to the design, this procedure is known as Verre églomisé, from the French term meaning glass gilded,

The technique dates back to the pre-Roman eras, but its name is derived from 18th century French decorator and art-dealer Jean-Baptise Glomy

The centre of the glass was then water gilded and hand painted, in some smaller areas of tight detail i decided to screen print to get the best possible detail. Once all the gilding was done using 24crt,22crt,18crt,16 lemon gold and 12crt gold for silver finish, i hand painted the shades of colours to all areas along with Mother-of Pearl inlay and glitter effects. Hand blending was used on the ribbons using smiths cream and gold size. A fun project to make for a very appreciative Whiskey company!