ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN BELCHIER

The pier-glass's serpentined and triumphal-arched crest is embellished with fretted and acanthus-wrapped ribbons forming a central cartouche with flanking pedestals enriched with trefoiled plumes, while a fretted ribbon-guilloche, enriched with acanthus flowers and husks, likewise enriches the hollowed mirror-frame and is clasped by large Roman acanthus foliage at the corners. The Louis XIV-style frame derives from the Oeuvres of 1712 published by Daniel Marot (d.1752), architect to King William III. Its arabesque ornament corresponds to that of verre eglomisé panels incorporated in contemporary mirror frames such as that bearing the arms of Sir Gregory Page, 1st Bt. (d.1720) (sold from the Estate of Diana Kendall, Christie's New York, 14-15 October, 1994, lot 527). However it relates in particular to a gilt-gesso pier-glass frame, incorporting a bevel-edged glass and shaped head-glass, that was invoiced in 1723 for a bedroom at Erddig, Denbighshire by John Belchier (d.1753), cabinet-maker of 'Ye Sun in St. Paul's Church Yard', whose trade-bill advertised 'All sorts of Fine Peer & Chimney glasses and glass sconces'. The cresting on the Erddig pier-glass also features fretted-ribbon ties and a nymph mask, whose foliate headdress recalls the scallop-shell badge of Venus, the nature goddess (M. Waterson, Erddig, National Trust Guidebook, 1978, p. 18; The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, pp. 59 & 60 and R. Edwards and M. Jourdain, Georgian Cabinet Makers, London, rev. ed., 1955, p. 137, fig. 36). The pier-glass, which can be attributed to Belchier, is likely to have been commissioned by the celebrated scholar and connoisseur Sir Andrew Fountaine (d.1753) shortly after receiving the court appointment in 1718 as Vice-Chamberlain to Princess Caroline, later Queen Caroline. It is likely to have formed part of the bedroom apartment furnishings of his London house in St. James's Place before its removal to Narford Hall, Norfolk in 1732-3 (A.W. Moore, Norfolk & The Grand Tour, Fakenham, 1985, p. 30).
A pair of pier mirrors attributed to John Belchier were sold by an Eastern museum, Christie's New York, 2 February 1991, lot 208.