Lot Essay
The arched cartouche-shaped form of this mirror appears in a drawing for a mirror executed by the goldsmith Thomas Germain for Queen Marie Leczynska (now in the Bibliothèque National, Paris). A toilet mirror of the same form was probably acquired by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild for Waddesdon (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Fribourg, 1974, no.74, pp. 370-1). A further example of this form was in the collection of the 12th Duke of Hamilton at Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire, and was sold at Christie's house sale, 17-20 July, 1882, lot 998, while another closely related model is in the Wallace Collection (F.J.B Watson, Wallace Collection Catalogues: Furniture, 1956, F 50, pl. 81).