Lina Solid Oak Wall Mirror

Details

Lina hangs low and wide, and the first thing to look at is not the glass. Across the top the oak runs thin, little more than a raised lip that catches the light in one long line. Follow that line from the left and it climbs into a slow arc, crests just past the middle, then rolls down into a full, rounded end on the right. The left end does the opposite, tapering to a soft blunt nose. Nothing squares off anywhere. There is no corner, no straight run, no seam where one piece meets another.

Then the underside. A little left of center the band swings back on itself and drops below the bottom line of the glass in a broad drooping lobe, the thickest band anywhere on the piece. That overlapping fold stands off the wall and throws a shadow of its own, so from down the hallway you read two shapes at once: the calm sweep of the mirror and the heavier curve hanging under it.

The fold is the argument for solid oak

A veneer has to be laid over a core, and it cannot turn back and pass beneath itself. Lina's does. Where the band folds under the glass you are looking at the depth of an oak section, shaped and sanded round, not a face glued onto board. The thickness changes all the way around as well, from a slim edge along the top to a wide flat plane at the bottom, which is only possible when there is material there to take away.

The wood is a pale honey oak, sanded smooth and finished matte rather than glossy, and its figure stays quiet and even. That suits this shape. A loud pattern would fight the curve, while a calm surface lets you follow the line and the shadow instead. The glass sits back inside the opening, carried by the wood rather than laid on top of it, and no screw or joint shows anywhere on the front.

Made in Konya, by Mehmet Ali

Mehmet Ali was born in Konya and has spent more than thirty-five years at the bench. He shapes each mirror himself. The workshop is a good deal older than this part of the work; mirrors have only been coming out of it for two years.

There is no stock room. Your Lina is made once the order reaches us, in the size and the finish you pick, and it will carry the tone of the boards it was cut from, so expect small departures from the photographs here.

Sizing it to your wall

Nine sizes, from 50 x 32 cm (20 x 13 inch) up to 170 x 110 cm (67 x 43 inch). The proportion holds steady the whole way, so the small ones are the same broad shape as the large ones rather than a squashed version of them. Lina stays compact for its width, which is why it settles above a console or an entryway shelf instead of claiming the entire wall.

One thing worth planning for: the fold hangs below the main line of the mirror. Leave it some clearance from whatever stands on the surface underneath, or a tall vase will crowd it.

Packing, shipping, care

Mirrors from this workshop have gone out to something like twenty countries so far. Yours is wrapped in protective material before it leaves and sent worldwide with a tracking number. Keep the oak clear of standing water, dust it with a dry soft cloth, and wipe the glass with the cloth rather than spraying toward the frame. Caught between two sizes? Write to us before you order and we will work it through against your wall.

Lina hangs in the oak wall mirror range alongside Arel, which also lets the band gain and lose width as the outline moves, and Calen, which scoops its lower edge back rather than dropping a fold beneath it. Both of those reach 200 cm at the top of their range, where Lina stops at 170.