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Lot Essay
This magnificent and ornate pier glass in the 'Modern' or 'French' style is refined and reduced from a design by Thomas Johnson (d.1778) first published in 1756 and included in his Collections of Designs, 1758, plate 5 and his One Hundred & Fifty New Designs, 1761, plate 31. The cabinet-making father and son firm of William (d. 1763) and John Linnell (d. 1796) of Berkeley Square, London was almost certainly inspired by Johnson creating similar designs for mirrors in the 1760s (P. Ward-Jackson, English Furniture Designs of the Eighteenth Century, 1958, fig. 198 and 199). An almost identical mirror with larger dimensions to the present example is at the Assembly Rooms, York (A. Coleridge, Chippendale Furniture, 1968, fig.103).
George Mowbray (d.1798) was the first of his family to live at Mortimer. His granddaughter Elizabeth married John Robert Cornish in 1847, who took the name of Mowbray and was created a baronet in 1880. The family also had property at Bishopwearmouth, Co. Durham since the early 18th century.
George Mowbray (d.1798) was the first of his family to live at Mortimer. His granddaughter Elizabeth married John Robert Cornish in 1847, who took the name of Mowbray and was created a baronet in 1880. The family also had property at Bishopwearmouth, Co. Durham since the early 18th century.