A GEORGE III GILTWOOD OVAL MIRROR

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Details

A GEORGE III GILTWOOD OVAL MIRROR
The oval plate within a moulded pierced frame carved with stylised rockwork, C-scrolls, acanthus and trailing foliage and surmounted by a pierced cresting with double C-scroll balustrade and central acanthus and cabochon spray surmounted by an asymmetric pediment with armorial dragon's head flanked by further naturalistic sprays, surmounted by pierced C-scroll and stalactite motifs, the apron with central confronting C-scroll cartouche with a swan being pursued by hounds, on further naturalistic plinths to each side, regilt, the backboard and plate probably replaced in the 19th Century
55½ x 25 in. (141 x 63.5 cm.)

Provenance

Bought from Norman Adams, June 1970.

Literature

C. Claxton Stevens and S. Whittington, 18th Century English Furniture, The Norman Adams Collection, Woodbridge, rev. ed., 1985, p. 420.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

The rustic flower-festooned frame of this Roman medallioned pier glass fuses the Earth and Water Elements with its rich fretting in the French 'picturesque' manner. It incorporates scenes of the chase derived from a 'Mirror Frame' pattern in the 1758 Collection of Designs, pl. 4, issued by the Grafton Street carver and drawing-master Thomas Johnson. Its cornice is bridged by a serpentined balustrade, which also features in Johnson's patterns, while its general form relates to a 'Chinese Sconce' pattern issued in Patterns of Household Furniture in Genteel Taste, 1760, pl. 98, issued by A Society of Upholsterers, Cabinet-Makers, etc.
It is surmounted by an heraldic dragon crest used by the families of Fanshaw, Fanshawe, Pordage and Terrey.

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