who invented the mirror

Nobody knows a single person who “invented the mirror,” because mirrors evolved over thousands of years in different forms. Early humans used still water and polished stones, while the modern glass mirror with a silver backing was created in 1835 by the German chemist Justus von Liebig.

Who “invented” the mirror?

• The earliest man‑made mirrors were polished obsidian (volcanic glass) used in Çatalhöyük in Anatolia (modern Turkey) around 6000 BCE.

• Later civilizations used polished copper and bronze mirrors in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and elsewhere, thousands of years before glass mirrors.

• Glass mirrors with a metal backing appeared in the Roman world, where glass was coated with lead or gold leaf to make it reflective.

In this sense, mirror “invention” belongs to many anonymous craftspeople across early civilizations rather than one named inventor.

The modern mirror

When people today ask “who invented the mirror,” they usually mean the modern household mirror: a flat piece of glass with a highly reflective metallic coating on the back.

• In 1835, Justus von Liebig , a German chemist, developed a chemical process to deposit a thin layer of metallic silver onto glass.

• This “silvered‑glass” technique made it possible to mass‑produce clear, bright mirrors much more cheaply and consistently than older methods.

Because of this breakthrough, Liebig is widely credited as the inventor of the modern mirror , even though reflective objects had existed for millennia.

Mini timeline of mirrors

• ~6000 BCE: Polished obsidian mirrors in Anatolia.

• 4000–3000 BCE: Polished copper mirrors in Mesopotamia and Egypt.

• ~2000 BCE onward: Bronze mirrors in China and other regions.

• 1st century CE: Glass mirrors with metal backing in the Roman world.

• Middle Ages–Renaissance: Venetian glassmakers perfect tin‑mercury backed glass mirrors, sold as luxury items in Europe.

• 1835: Justus von Liebig invents the silvered‑glass mirror process used as the basis of modern mirrors.

From still ponds to polished volcanic glass to silvered sheets of glass, the mirror is less a single invention and more a long story of humans wanting to see their own reflection.

TL;DR:

• No single person invented mirrors in general.

• Early mirrors were polished stone and metal made by ancient craftspeople.

• The modern silvered glass mirror used today was invented by Justus von Liebig in 1835.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.