19th Century English Pollard Oak Mirror

19th Century English pollard oak wall mirror of simple and elegant design, in a moulded frame with inner gilt slip and carved and gilded outer border. Pollard oak is the wood derived from oak trees that have been ‘pollarded’. Pollarding is a system of pruning the top branches of a tree which then promotes a dense head of branches and foliage. The technique has been used in Europe since medieval times. The tree forms a lump or ‘burr’ which when cut for veneer has a lovely swirling figure in the grain.