PROBABLY FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF GILES GRENDEY

This richly-japanned pier glass is conceived in a similar manner to the work of Giles Grendey (d.1780), cabinetmaker of St. John's Square, Clerkenwell, London, and more specifically to the pieces in his Lazcano ensemble. This extensive commission of scarlet and gilt japanned furniture, comprising approximately 80 pieces supplied to the Duke of Infantado's castle at Lazcano, Spain ranks among the most celebrated suites of eighteenth century English furniture. Many of the pieces from this suite are now in public collections. The pier-glass has a serpentined pediment depicting a monumental seated figure, that evokes the image of 'Pagod Worship in the Indies' in Stalker and Parker's, Treatise on Japanning, 1688. A similar composition features on a sconce-fitted pier-glass supplied in the 1730's to the Duke of Infantado at Lazcano, Spain (sold Property of the Rosen Foundation, Christie's New York, 14 April 1984, lot 153; see C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, Leeds, 1996, fig 445).