17TH CENTURY, NAPLES

The technique of using gilt-foil backing of tortoiseshell veneers to enhance the golden hue and lustre gives this mirror its magnificent Baroque richness. This technique was first introduced in the mid-17th century and can also be seen on cabinets-on-stands executed in Southern Italy, particularly in Naples and by Neapolitan craftsmen working in Majorca. A pair of cabinets displaying this same technique was sold at Christie's house sale, Castillo de Bendinat, Majorca, 24-25 May 1999, lot 236, whilst another is displayed in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence (see E. Colle, Il Mobile Barocco in Italia, Milan, 2000, no 14). Two mirrors of very similar character, displaying the same unusually broad frame, were sold from the collection of the Margraves and Grand Dukes of Baden, Baden Baden, Sotheby's house sale, 5-21 October 1995, lots 27 and 28.