Free Article Directory Instant Approved Article Directory

Mirrors have been around for thousands of years, ever since caveman first stopped to examine his hair was still in place in a pond of water. Well, possibly not, after all it is true that the basic mirrors were simply pools or bowls of still rainwater that could be used to take pleasure in ones appearance in. You can almost envision the amusement of said prehistoric man as he gazed upon themselves for the first time, a fascination that remains with the human race to this day. The first mirror located dates back to 6000 BC and was molded from gleaming obsidian crystal, a form of dark glass formed in volcanic regions. Other primitive forms of mirrors include gleaming copper, gleaming rock and gleaming bronze as well as an abundance of different alloys, all polished to a smooth and glistening surface and there are even suggestions that precious metals were highly gleaming and used as mirrors by the more rich members of humankind.

Nevertheless it wasn’t untill the most recent 200 years or so such glass mirrors where coated with a metal reflective surface began to bear fruit, with suggestions that the Romans may have been the first to put to use lead strengthened glass mirrors and occasionaly, gold leaf strengthened mirrors for the upscale. Around 500AD the Chinese begun to generate mirrors on a larger scale thanks to their method of backing their glass with a silver-mercury compound that gave a notable increase in the superiority of mirror image. Be that as it may it wasn’t until rather just a while ago in the 16th century such mirrors begun to become more affordable to the common people, thanks to the exposure of a tin-mercury composite that was cost less to produce and gave a high superiority reflection. Venice is widely credited with the finding of this alloy, nevertheless the correct position and time is somewhat unknown, and the mirrors produced in Venice where extremely high-priced considering their wares.

In recent times, prominently the 19th century, silvered glass has grown into the standard for mirrors thanks to a capability developed by a German scientist. His procedure allows a wispy overlay of silver nitrate to be applied to the rear of a glass sheet, this silver nitrate when exposed to chemicals transforms to leave behind a paper-thin highly reflective overlay of silver on the back of the glass. This technique soon became the standard in mirror production and allowed mirrors to be mass-produced for the first time in history, noteworthyly lowering the asking price and making them affordable to the mass public. In contemporary years, silver nitrate has been replaced by aluminium for expense reasons, however the know-how remains unaltered.

Now a days mirrors are seen as an conventional part of life and are more familiar than they have ever been in history. Coming in a variety of shapes and sizes and with a weird and wonderful choice of borders and stands for free standing mirrors. So there you have it, if it wasn’t for caveman’s vanity many thousands of years ago we may not ever have had the opportunity to observe upon our likenesss in a mirror!

If you’re looking for your ideal mirror we suggest you check out Full Length Mirrors for a wide selection of Full Length Free Standing Mirrors