The selected object is a lark mirror, an early modern hunting device used to lure and trap small birds attracted to shiny things.

With a revolving blade and spring-loaded back mechanism or spindle and cord, the device is covered in small mirrors that create a bright, hypnotic flickering effect. Known to take its shape in the 17th century, the instrument combines effective design with an entirely sculptural form.

The mechanical lark mirror was once widely used by hunters to attract skylarks, a variety of passerine birds known for their melodious song. Lured to reflective surfaces, the larks would approach the hunter’s instrument which mimicked pools of water. Deceived, the caught birds would fall into his prepared net.

In the Italian language, as in French, the expression “Specchietto per le allodole” (mirror for larks) is used as a metaphor for illusion, indicating attitudes, actions and behaviours that have the ability to trick, bait and deceive gullible people. In the collective consciousness the saying is an established concept, but the object from which the expression derives is rarely known.

The lark mirror was born from a technical need and was transformed into something abstract that discerns its true meaning. It is an inspiring object, containing multiple characteristics in a single artefact: sculptural, cinematic, functional, decorative and hypnotic, all at once.

The cheerful lark, as in the air she flies,
And on this gossamer casts down her eyes,
Takes it for mirrors laid by rural swains
And therefore fears to light upon the plains.

Hester Pulter (c. 1596-1678), "The Lark" (Poem 46, Elemental Edition), ed. Leah Knight and Wendy Wall, in The Pulter Project: Poet in the Making, ed. Leah Knight and Wendy Wall (2018.)