CIRCA 1740

Details

A GEORGE II SHELL-MOUNTED GILTWOOD MIRROR
CIRCA 1740
53 ½ in. (136 cm.) high, 31 in. (79 cm.) wide

Provenance

Purchased by Will Fisher in Scotland; by repute removed from Newhailes House, Midlothian.
The Collection of Will Fisher, Founder of Jamb; Christie's, South Kensington, 2 February 2012, lot 49.

Special notice

Please note lots marked with a square will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) on the last day of the sale. Lots are not available for collection at Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services until after the third business day following the sale. All lots will be stored free of charge for 30 days from the auction date at Christie’s Rockefeller Center or Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn). Operation hours for collection from either location are from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm, Monday-Friday. After 30 days from the auction date property may be moved at Christie’s discretion. Please contact Post-Sale Services to confirm the location of your property prior to collection. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn). Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information.

Lot Essay

Newhailes, near Edinburgh has been described as 'one of the most elaborately decorated and carefully thought-out rococo interiors in Scotland' (Valerie Horrocks, Newhailes, Edinburgh, 2004, p. 30). From 1709 Newhailes was home to the Dalrymple family, an influential dynasty of lawyers and politicians. The shell, motif was used with particular frequency for the interiors Newhailes, for example in elaborate stucco mouldings by Thomas Clayton, in friezes, on overmantels and above door frames. The present mirror incorporates real shells as does the frames of four family portraits, inset into the paneling of the great dining room at Newhailes. One of these portraits represents Sir James Dalrymple, 2nd Baronet of Hailes (inherited in 1721) during whose tenure the present example was possibly acquired. There are a number of other elaborate giltwood pier mirrors with central scallop shell motifs still in situ at Newhailes today.

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