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Lot Essay
These spectacular mirrors, richly encrusted with coloured glass cabochons and flowers, combine the most celebrated aspects of Venetian craftsmanship at the height of the rococo period: extravagant carving in wood and intricate glass blowing. Although Venetian mirrors entirely in coloured and engraved glass are more commonly known, the rich combination of coloured glass and carved wood as seen here is much rarer.
A pair of simpler cartouche-form mirrors inset with green glass cabochons in the Palazzo Rezzonico, Venice is illustrated in G. Mazzariol and A. Dorigato, Venetian Palazzi, Padua, 1998, p. 128, while further examples in the Museo Vetrario, Murano and in the collection of Tullio Silva, are illustrated in G. Mariacher, Specchiere Italiane, figs. 59 and 62. None of the above however combine these elements with quite the same richness as the mirrors offered here.
A pair of simpler cartouche-form mirrors inset with green glass cabochons in the Palazzo Rezzonico, Venice is illustrated in G. Mazzariol and A. Dorigato, Venetian Palazzi, Padua, 1998, p. 128, while further examples in the Museo Vetrario, Murano and in the collection of Tullio Silva, are illustrated in G. Mariacher, Specchiere Italiane, figs. 59 and 62. None of the above however combine these elements with quite the same richness as the mirrors offered here.