This antique Louis XV style Rococo French mirror c.1840 -1860 is extraordinary. I have not seen one like it. The entire frame is all water gilded which has been masterfully burnished to produce this wonderful sheen so it almost glows. Water gilding is typically much more labor intensive than oil gilding (so these pieces command a higher price) and is capable of achieving a more refined surface and sheen. Consequently it has been reserved for more expensive objects which are seen and experienced at closer range like this mirror. Water gilding is when a porous substrate (typically wood), is covered with gesso , and then covered with bole (a mixture of clay and glues). It is then covered with a layer of gold leaf held to the bole by glue. This golden surface can then be left matte or burnished to a mirror-like sheen.