CIRCA 1765, ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN AND WILLIAM LINNELL

This wreathed pier glass, of Roman medallion form, is conceived in the George II picturesque or 'Modern' style and relates to a flower-entwined pier glass at Uppark, West Sussex (M. Jourdain & F. Rose, English Furniture: The Georgian Period, London, 1953, fig. 149). These mirrors are derived from a design for a pier glass which featured in a design of circa 1760 for a side of a room by John Linnell illustrated in H. Hayward & P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, vol. II, London, 1980, p. 115, fig. 220. A closely related white-painted pier mirror was supplied to Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter for Burghley House, Lincolnshire; although no specific bill remains, Exeter is known to have employed Linnell during the 1760s.

A gilding analysis undertaken by Catherine Hassall of University College London reveals that the mirror has been gilded twice. The original gilding of white gesso, yellow undercoat and then water-gilding over a reddish-brown clay apparently survives beneath the current gilding.