CIRCA 1760

The existence of mirrors on glazed bureau-bookcases of this date is somewhat unusual. However, the presence of small mirrored ovals on the famous 'violin' bookcase now at Wilton House, Salisbury, Wiltshire and almost certainly supplied by Thomas Chippendale for Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke (d. 1794), between 1763-1773, suggests that the central oval panel was possibly originally fitted with a mirror (C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. II, fig. 66). A further example with a mirrored door exists at Aske Hall, Yorkshire, and was possibly the one invoiced by Thomas Chippendale in 1764 and described as 'a Mahogany Chest of drawers with a Desk drawer and bookcase with a Scrol Pediment top and Looking Glass 26' (Gilbert, ibid., vol. II, fig. 87).