CIRCA 1770

Gillows of Lancaster supplied carton pierre, or papier mâché, mirrors from 1766, the frames themselves supplied whole or in parts by Peter Babel of St James's Street, Long Acre. Babel specialised particularly in sectioned papier mâché that could be assembled into mirror and picture frames, and also cornices and wall decorations. An order sent to Babel in June 1766 specified for `6 frames different patterns & the ornaments come loose to be made up here'. The material, once assembled, gilded and burnished resembled carved wood and could be supplied at a significant discount against the cost of a carved frame. One of a pair of oval papier mâché mirrors almost certainly supplied by Gillows around 1770 and descended in a Lancashire family is illustrated in Susan Stuart, Gillows of Lancaster and London 1730 - 1840, Woodbridge, 2008, vol. II, pp. 76 - 77, pl. 620. These are surmounted by birds that closely resemble those on the lot offered here.

See also lot 573, a pair of George III oval carton pierre mirrors.