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Lot Essay
These mirrors are closely related to the work of Peter Schmuckert (1765-1841) from Mannheim. Schmuckert, a trained gilder who had travelled Europe during his four years of Wanderschaft, opened a workshop in his home town in 1787. Despite the turmoils of the Revolution his business appears to have flourished and in 1806 he was able to acquire the silvering machines of the Elector of Mainz's loss-making mirror manufactury. This was around the time of refurbishments to the castle in Mannheim and Schmuckert must have profited from commissions as a result.
For the production of his mirrors and, from 1815, also furniture, Schmuckert used pre-fabricated moulded elements of ornamentation which he acquired from companies such as that of Joseph Beunat, who lists a whole range of ornaments in his Receuil de dessins d'ornement d'architecture de la manufacture de Joseph Beunat a Sarrebourg et a Paris. The trailing oak leaf on the present mirrors for example is closely related to a design by Beunat (see S. Spindler, 'Peter Schmuckert', Weltkunst, May 2001, pp. 808-810).
For the production of his mirrors and, from 1815, also furniture, Schmuckert used pre-fabricated moulded elements of ornamentation which he acquired from companies such as that of Joseph Beunat, who lists a whole range of ornaments in his Receuil de dessins d'ornement d'architecture de la manufacture de Joseph Beunat a Sarrebourg et a Paris. The trailing oak leaf on the present mirrors for example is closely related to a design by Beunat (see S. Spindler, 'Peter Schmuckert', Weltkunst, May 2001, pp. 808-810).