The large oval pier glasses with pearled-ribbon bands and fluted frames relate to a pair made by Thomas Chippendale for Sir William Constable's house in Mansfield Street, London, in 1774, and now at Burton Constable, Yorkshire. Even though Sir William's mirrors were only 43 x 31 in., half the size of the present lot, their cost was still considerable, being £52.0.0, while Sir William's 'very large four-post Bedstead' was a mere £8.15.0 in comparison (C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. I, pp. 277, 279, 280 and vol. II, p. 153, fig. 278).
Mirror plates were exceptionally expensive in the 18th Century, so these mirrors would have been considered the height of luxury. At Harewood House in Yorkshire, the two oval plates supplied by Chippendale in 1773 for the State Bedchamber, cost a mammouth £100 each, while the gilded frames with 'rich Carved Antique Ornaments' added £69 to the price of the pair. Given the price of £10 each for the State Bedchamber chairs, the most lavish of all those Chippendale supplied to Harewood, this price is considerable (ibid., vol. I, pp. 197, 206-207 and M. Mauchline, Harewood House, Ashbourne, 1992, p. 92).