A NORTH ITALIAN GILTWOOD MIRROR
A NORTH ITALIAN GILTWOOD MIRROR

VENICE, CIRCA 1730-40

Details
A NORTH ITALIAN GILTWOOD MIRROR
VENICE, CIRCA 1730-40
With elaborate pierced cresting centered by a military trophy, the sides with pierced scrolling foliage
82 in. (208 cm.) high, 55 in. (140 cm.) wide
Provenance
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 16 June 1995, lot 50.

Lot Essay

This spectacular mirror, with its vigorous scrolls and elaborate military trophy cresting, exemplifies all the exuberance of Venetian rococo carving of the 1730's. A Venetian frame with related trophies, originally housing a portrait of Francisco III d'Este, Duke of Modena, is illustrated in E. Colle, Il Mobile Rococo in Italia, Milan, 2003, cat. 85, while a further mirror frame also lavishly carved with trophies and with the coat of arms of Contarini di S. Beneto, is illustrated in C. Alberici, Il Mobile Veneto, Milan, 1980, p. 269, fig. 413. A further related mirror frame, with picturesque and trophy carved surround, is in the Rosen Collection at Caramoor, Katonah, New York.

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