In the olden days around 600 B.C, humans make simple mirrors by utilizing polished obsidian as a reflective surface. Eventually, they started to produce more sophisticated mirrors made of copper, bronze, silver, gold and even lead.
Speaking of the history of Mirrors, the three countries such as China, Greece and Rome have recorded the use of polished metal to make mirrors. To be precise, the Venetians first invented the “glass mirror” in the early 14th century. After that, they applied the alloy of tin and mercury to the back of the glass to obtain a clearer mirror surface. As a result, this is the prototype of the “modern mirror”. Afterwards, Venice listed the manufacturing process of the mirror as top-secret. Nobody really knew how to make mirrors until many years later.
It was not until 1664 that the French Minister of Finance Colbert managed to introduce the secret of this craft into France and Venice’s monopoly that had been maintained for more than 150 years came to an end.
The clear and bright mirror we are using now was improved by a German chemist in 1835, using silver-plated glass as a coating.
There were several types of mirrors in those days. The mirror has a long history and it was discovered almost at the same time as human beings. As early as ancient times, ape-man learned to use water as a mirror to sort out self-monitoring. Precisely, the Chinese traditional mirrors have more profound cultural connotations. Human beings used the natural water surface like a mirror. The calm pool, water-filled rocks and containers are the earliest prototypes of mirrors. The calm water surface showing one’s reflection was considered the water mirror.
Back in 8,000 B.C. Obsidian is produced by active volcanoes and was originally used to make pottery and arrows in Kenya. It is speculated whether this stone has been polished a lot to produce beautiful reflections. This gave us the first mirror in the world. The problem with using obsidian is that it is too heavy. It is usually not made into a big piece, but a small ornament for the rich. Over the years, obsidian has been increasingly associated with black magic.
Between 3,000 and 2,000, we humans began to use mirrors made of bronze. China and Egypt were the first to join this new trend-making mirrors with flat bronze discs. The handle of the bronze mirror is usually made of wood, metal or ivory, so it is more suitable as a hand-held mirror. However, just like obsidian mirrors, unless you have a lot of money, they are usually made on the smaller side.
One of the best examples of bronze mirrors is the Lighthouse of Alexandria in 280 BC. There is a huge arc-shaped mirror in the centre that can reflect firelight. This reflection looks like a beam of light and helps guide people at sea back to a safe place.
Mirrors are designed so intricately and beautifully that at first, they were only used by royalty and nobles. Although they are beautiful and made of glass, they are coated with mercury. As we all know, mercury is a toxic substance and should not be used every day.
Soon after, mirrors began to be used for scientific purposes. In the 1700s, mirrors were used to build the first reflecting telescope, but mirrors are still considered a luxury.
In 1835, Justus Von Liebig began to coat glass with silver instead of mercury, creating the silver plating process we still use today. The glass itself is not very reflective, so it needs some kind of metal coating to make the object visible. As an effortlessly polished and fairly strong material, glass is the perfect choice for making mirrors.
The silver is boiled into a liquid, and then a thin, uniform coating is applied to the glass. You can also spray liquid silver onto the glass, depending on the tools available. After the silver plating process, the mirror is covered with a protective coating to avoid debris in the reflection, and then polished.
As for now, it is a quicker and clearer mirror we can produce. As you see in the video shows, silver nitrate and ammonia are combined in de-ionized water, shaking the glass, which the chemical reaction turns the liquid clear, and then pouring the liquid over the plain glass. The chemical reaction between the liquid and the glass creates a mirror. After, the glass was rinsed off, leaving behind a perfect reflection.
