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Lot Essay
The form of this mirror with its pedimented cresting, columnar uprights and splayed legs ending in paw-feet is derived from French models, called 'psych', in fashion during the Empire period and particularly popularized by Franois-Honor-George Jacob-Desmalter. A similar mirror by this cabinetmaker of circa 1810 is illustrated in D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Mobilier Franais du XIXeme Sicle, Paris, 1989, p. 336. The brass-inlaid border of stars, frequently occurs on furniture of this period celebrating Napoleonic victories.
English cabinetmakers adapted the French-Grecian style and designs for cheval mirrors appear in pattern books published by influential designers such as George Smith and Thomas Hope. The central mount on the cresting depicting two leopardesses drinking from a fountain is directly inspired by Hope's design for a pedimented cheval-glass illustrated in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807, pl. 14. Other elements such as the facing griffins and profile mounts also derive from Hope's designs (plates XV and XI). A pair of pedimented bookcases, which feature the leopard mount appear in a design which cabinetmaker George Bullock (d. 1818) supplied for the Emperor Napoleon's Breakfast Room at Longwood House, his residence on St. Helena (British Library Lowe Papers, mss. 4, folio 212). A bookcase of this form attributed to Bullock was sold in these Rooms, 30 April 1997, lot 139.
English cabinetmakers adapted the French-Grecian style and designs for cheval mirrors appear in pattern books published by influential designers such as George Smith and Thomas Hope. The central mount on the cresting depicting two leopardesses drinking from a fountain is directly inspired by Hope's design for a pedimented cheval-glass illustrated in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807, pl. 14. Other elements such as the facing griffins and profile mounts also derive from Hope's designs (plates XV and XI). A pair of pedimented bookcases, which feature the leopard mount appear in a design which cabinetmaker George Bullock (d. 1818) supplied for the Emperor Napoleon's Breakfast Room at Longwood House, his residence on St. Helena (British Library Lowe Papers, mss. 4, folio 212). A bookcase of this form attributed to Bullock was sold in these Rooms, 30 April 1997, lot 139.