That'a a damn lie! There's no mirror to be seen in either of those pics, just a tiny Chinese turntable.

Something silimar happened on TechTV a while back, but I think I remember hearing that it was a fake.

So, I guess we're talking roughly 7 eons of bad luck here?

I realize why the owner of the mirror might be upset about this, but I really don't see why it should be a disaster for anyone else. After all, mirrors are broken every day. Or is it the £500,000 value that makes it such a big deal?

Sorry, I'm feeling a bit grumpy tonight.

You are not your stuff!

(sorry, the first rule of MetaChat is I will not quote Fight Club)

It was probably insured. Daniel, the big deal isn't that it's a mirror, but that it was an irreplaceable artifact. Imagine if she was showing off a priceless Ming vase, and she dropped that on the floor. Or if she was holding up the Mona Lisa, then accidentally dropped it in a vat of acid. Or something like that.

the big deal isn't that it's a mirror, but that it was an irreplaceable artifact

Irreplaceable? It was hardly any use to anyone.

Well, Daniel, it's not like the Mona Lisa is really of use to anyone either. I mean, what's it do? Nothing, it just hangs on a wall.

Specklet: My thought exactly. And there's another thing about the Mona Lisa: it can easily be replaced with a cheap copy.

muddgirl, those shows would be a lot more entertaining if there were random vats of acid placed about the set. And ninjas.

It was hardly any use to anyone.
I was under the impression that this was the definition of "artifact".

If I (and the revolutionary artists of the early 20th century) could have my way, there would be TV-shows where rare and expensive pieces of art would be dropped into vats of acid. Each show would concentrate on one work of art. First, the history of the work would be told. The market value of the artifact (or the sum the bourgeois owner paid for it; the works would be expropriated shortly prior to the show and the expropriation filmed with video cameras) would be announced. Then a big red button would be pushed; seconds later, the disintegrated artifact would be taken out of the vat and shown to the shocked audience. The television viewers at home would get a kick out of their reaction. In the final part of the show, evidence would be presented, showing that even though the original work had just been destroyed, it would still live on in numerous copies, imitations, works-inspired-by and so on.

I guess the value of historical objects is one of those things where, if you have to explain it to someone, they will never really understand.

I just learned that Slow Fires, my favorite film about preservation (though Decasia might be close), is 20 years old this year, and still not available on DVD, let alone Google Video or Youtube.