ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN BOOKER, CIRCA 1745-50

This exceptional mirror can be confidently attributed to the renowned Dublin ‘glass grinder’ John Booker (d. 1750) who is recorded working at 6 Essex Bridge, Dublin from 1728. A notable comparison is Booker's documented pair of pier glasses supplied in 1745 to Jenico Preston, 10th Viscount Gormanston (d. 1757) for his saloon at the old Gormanston Castle, Co. Meath. The Gormanston mirrors display the same distinctive diaper pattern ground punctuated by raised buttons, similarly stylized festoons and raised flowers to the lower corners (see The Knight of Glin and J. Peill, Irish Furniture, New Haven, 2007, p. 84, pl. 107). The broken pedimented top and characteristic floral swags hung from knotted drapery also appear on a pair of glasses almost certainly supplied for Lord Howth in around 1738 and which remain in the collection at Howth Castle, Co. Dublin (op. cit., p. 83, fig. 106). The bust, possibly depicting an aristocratic patron fashioned as a Roman emperor, is a particularly rare and wonderful feature that may hint at the identity of an erudite owner who wished to advertise his familiarity with antiquity.

The architectural form of Booker mirrors derive from mirror designs by William Jones in his The Gentleman’s or Builders Companion of 1739. This pattern book was imported to Dublin in the same year where it was ‘sold by Robert Owen of Skinners Row for 12s’, and it seems likely that the Bookers would have seen or owned a copy of the publication.