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[[File:Johann Jacob Kirstein 001.JPG|thumb|An 18th century [[vermeil]] mirror in the [[Musée des Arts décoratifs, Strasbourg]]]]
[[File:Mirror with laquered back inlaid with 4 phoenixes holding ribbons in their mouths. Tang Dynasty. Eastern Xi'an city.jpg|thumb|A mirror with lacquered back inlaid with four phoenixes holding ribbons in their mouths during the [[Tang Dynasty]] in eastern [[Xi'an]]]]
The evolution of glass mirrors in the [[Middle Ages]] followed improvements in [[glassmaking]] technology. Glassmakers in [[France]] made flat glass plates by blowing glass bubbles, spinning them rapidly to flatten them, and cutting rectangles out of them. A better method, developed in [[Germany]] and perfected in [[Venice]] by the 16th century, was to blow a cylinder of glass, cut off the ends, slice it along its length, and unroll it onto a flat hot plate.<ref name=bonn2011/>{{rp|p.11}} Venetian glassmakers also adopted [[lead glass]] for mirrors, because of its crystal-clarity and its easier workability.
During the early European [[Renaissance]], a [[gilding#Fire-gilding|fire-gilding]] technique developed to produce an even and highly reflective [[tin]] coating for glass mirrors. The back of the glass was coated with a tin-mercury amalgam, and the mercury was then evaporated by heating the piece. This process caused less [[thermal shock]] to the glass than the older molten-lead method.<ref name=bonn2011/>{{rp|p.16}} The date and location of the discovery is unknown, but by the 16th century Venice was a center of mirror production using this technique. These Venetian mirrors were up to {{convert|40|in|cm}} square.
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