Chinese Mirror with Crackle Finish Frame

A web of fine cracks runs over the frame, the way mud dries in a riverbed.

This mirror with a crackle finish frame comes from Hebei Province, China, and is contemporary, in crackle finish lacquer and elm wood. Crackle lacquer is made by layering coats that dry at different rates, so the surface splits into a network of small fissures. The square frame is wide and flat, mitered at each corner, its golden-brown surface broken by a dense craquelure of paler lines. The plate is plain and square, set slightly back. It is 30 inches long and 30 high.

Every crack in it is there on purpose, which is more than most of us can say.