Lot Essay
The triumphal-arch mirror celebrates the 'New World'. Its serpentined and mirror-bordered frame is enriched with flowers and Roman foliage in the 'arabesque' or 'picturesque' manner introduced by the architect Gilles-Marie Oppenordt (d. 1742) after his appointment in 1715 as director of the Royal manufacures by Philippe d'Orléans, Regent of France (d. 1723). The Continent of 'America', symbolised by an exotically plumed nymph-mask, is displayed on the arched cartouche of the richly fretted and flower-trellised pediment, and is protected by dragons (draco), emblematic of Minerva, goddess of Wisdom and the Arts. These are accompanied by sporting cupids with bows, also considered an attributed of the 'Indian' personnification of America, which are seated above shell-supported eagles that perch in the Ionic pilasters' flowered capitals. Festive satyr-masks emerge from the voluted and trellis-enriched base-brackets and regard a central cartouche displaying the scallop-shell badge of Venus, the Nature-goddess. While this mirror may have formed part of a room decorated with all four Continents, its extraordinary grandeur may indicate that it was designed to celebrate the triumph of peace in Spanish America following the 1713 Utrecht Treaty under the rule of Louis XV's grandson Philippe de France, duc d'Anjou (d. 1746). In particular Philipppe d'Orléans' Regency was to witness the founding of the city of New Orleans and the expansion of Louisiana.
The arabesque composition with its putti-accompanied masks, dragons, etc. is typical of the decorative patterns issued by Jean-Bernard Honoré-Toro (d. 1731), who styled himself 'sculpteur du Roi' and in 1717 was working in Paris in conjunction with Charles-Nicolas Lepas-Dubuisson, architecte du Roi, before his employment as chief carver at the Arsenal in 1719. His ornamental engravings, evolved from the arabesques of Bérain, are often imbued with an assymetrical picturesque character, as can be seen in his Livre de Tables de Diverses Formes of 1716. The ornament can also, however, be related to the decorations carried out by Oppenordt around 1720 at the Parisian hôtel and château de La Grange-du-Milieu, Seine-en-Marne belonging to Pierre-Nicolas Gaudion, Keeper of the Royal Treasury (M. Gallet, 'Oppenord au Château de la Grange-du-Milieu' Revue de l'art, 1968, no. 1-2, pp. 99-100; and B. Pons 'Oppenord and the Granja de San Ildefonso', Burlington Magazine, May 1989, pp. 331-341)
A similar mirror, although of smaller scale being 8ft. x 4ft. 9½in. (244cm. x 144cm.) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio (John L. Severance Fund, 53.153)
The photograph of the mirror in situ in the Saloon at Melton Constable reveals the later embellishments, now removed, of two floral trails garlanding the upper plate, which were almost certainly commissioned by the 22nd Lord Hastings. A celebrated francophile, Lord Hastings made extensive purchases of French furniture, Sèvres porcelain and objets d'art in Paris.
As the meticulous privately printed catalogue of 1901 reveals, Lord Hasting's eclectic taste embraced rock crystal and hardstone objects, snuff boxes, the 'Fairfax', Sèvres and Vincennes porcelain, bronzes after Coustou, Bernini and Tace, as well as animalier bronzes by Antoine-Louis Barye, a Boulle bureau and armoire, a pair of encoignures by Latz and a sécrétaire 'bought from the Petit Trianon in 1848'
The arabesque composition with its putti-accompanied masks, dragons, etc. is typical of the decorative patterns issued by Jean-Bernard Honoré-Toro (d. 1731), who styled himself 'sculpteur du Roi' and in 1717 was working in Paris in conjunction with Charles-Nicolas Lepas-Dubuisson, architecte du Roi, before his employment as chief carver at the Arsenal in 1719. His ornamental engravings, evolved from the arabesques of Bérain, are often imbued with an assymetrical picturesque character, as can be seen in his Livre de Tables de Diverses Formes of 1716. The ornament can also, however, be related to the decorations carried out by Oppenordt around 1720 at the Parisian hôtel and château de La Grange-du-Milieu, Seine-en-Marne belonging to Pierre-Nicolas Gaudion, Keeper of the Royal Treasury (M. Gallet, 'Oppenord au Château de la Grange-du-Milieu' Revue de l'art, 1968, no. 1-2, pp. 99-100; and B. Pons 'Oppenord and the Granja de San Ildefonso', Burlington Magazine, May 1989, pp. 331-341)
A similar mirror, although of smaller scale being 8ft. x 4ft. 9½in. (244cm. x 144cm.) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio (John L. Severance Fund, 53.153)
The photograph of the mirror in situ in the Saloon at Melton Constable reveals the later embellishments, now removed, of two floral trails garlanding the upper plate, which were almost certainly commissioned by the 22nd Lord Hastings. A celebrated francophile, Lord Hastings made extensive purchases of French furniture, Sèvres porcelain and objets d'art in Paris.
As the meticulous privately printed catalogue of 1901 reveals, Lord Hasting's eclectic taste embraced rock crystal and hardstone objects, snuff boxes, the 'Fairfax', Sèvres and Vincennes porcelain, bronzes after Coustou, Bernini and Tace, as well as animalier bronzes by Antoine-Louis Barye, a Boulle bureau and armoire, a pair of encoignures by Latz and a sécrétaire 'bought from the Petit Trianon in 1848'