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Lot Essay
The elaborate bullrush carved decoration on the present mirror is reminiscent of the interiors of Rundale Palace, built between 1736 and 1740 to the designs of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in present day Latvia, as a summer residence of Duke Ernst Johann of Courland (1690-1772), favorite of Russian Empress Anna Ivanovna, and Regent of the Russian Empire in 1740 (see P.Seulliet, 'The Palace of Rundale', The World of Interiors, December 2005, pp.108-121).
Related mirrors include that in the antechamber room in Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen (ill. M. Bencard, Rosenborg, the Royal Danish Collections, 1982, p.47), a pair of mirrors and a third example, all sold from the Arne Schlesch collection, Sotheby's, New York, 5 April 2000, lots 362 and 94 respectively (the latter formerly at Garnoe Castle, Barons Reedtz-Thott).
Related mirrors include that in the antechamber room in Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen (ill. M. Bencard, Rosenborg, the Royal Danish Collections, 1982, p.47), a pair of mirrors and a third example, all sold from the Arne Schlesch collection, Sotheby's, New York, 5 April 2000, lots 362 and 94 respectively (the latter formerly at Garnoe Castle, Barons Reedtz-Thott).