CIRCA 1730-40, IN THE MANNER OF WILLIAM KENT

This George II giltwood pier mirror was inspired by the work of the Rome-trained architect and artist, William Kent (d. 1748), 'the self-appointed director of styles', who flourished in aristocratic circles of the second quarter of the 18th century (Robert Tasker Evans, 'The Furniture Designs of William Kent', The Antiquarian, January 1930, p. 44). As with architecture, furniture design underwent a revolution from the 1720s in response to the 3rd Earl of Burlington's campaign to establish a new style based upon strict observance of classical architectural rules and the example of Andrea Palladio (d. 1580). The present example relates to sketches for mirrors by Kent including a design for Chiswick House, a collaboration between Lord Burlington and Kent (Giles Worsley, 'At Home with the Burlington's', Country Life, 3 November 1994, p. 112), and to a mirror for Chatsworth, Derbyshire (illustrated in Margaret Jourdain, The Work of William Kent, London, 1948, p. 172, fig. 136).