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拍品專文
This ornate giltwood mirror with its ‘Parisian’ ornament which inventively fuses antique and ‘modern’ rococo ornamentation corresponds to the work of the cabinet-making father and son partnership of William (d. 1763) and John Linnell (d. 1796) of Berkeley Square, London. As one of the most prominent firms of cabinet-makers of the second half of the 18th century, the Linnells supplied furniture and decorations for important country houses including Badminton House, Osterley Park, Syon Park, Alnwick Castle, Shardeloes, Bowood House, Lansdowne House and Inveraray Castle. One of their most important commissions was at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, where household ledgers record payments for unspecified items, made regularly from 1759-1796, totalling nearly £3,000.
The mirror stands apart from other Linnell work with the wonderful addition of its figural terms with naturalistic headdresses, but otherwise relates closely to the pair probably supplied for Sir Richard Hoare at Barn Elms in 1753 (see H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, 1980, vol. II, p. 100, fig. 191). Another pair of mirrors sharing the same profile was thought to have once formed part of the embellishment of Badminton House, Gloucestershire, carried out by Charles, 4th Duke of Beaufort (d.1756) in the 1750s. The Badminton information was based upon the records of the renowned New York dealers, French & Company from 1956. Documents show payments to William Linnell from the Duke of Beaufort totalling some £800 between October 1751 and December 1755, including furnishings for the Chinese bedroom, the centrepiece of which was the remarkable bed with pagoda canopy and gilt dragons to each corner, the whole suite japanned in black, red and gold (ibid. pp. 106 - 108), and probably also carved mirrors, japanned bookcases and two kneehole writing-desks. The French & Co. Badminton mirrors were offered Christie’s New York, 15 April 2005, lot 280.
The Barn Elms and Badminton mirrors are closely aligned to a drawing attributed to Linnell, part of a large collection, in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see H. Haywood, 'The Drawings of John Linnell in the Victoria and Albert Museum', Furniture History, 1969, fig. 46 and reproduced here), which is inscribed to the frame 'Breakfast Room'. The Barn Elms mirrors, in particular, share the same stylized shell crest, but all three are of the same distinctive profile with their oval shaped glasses framing the apron. Other related drawings vary in the design of their cresting which sometimes incorporate a basket of flowers or cornucopia but otherwise are equally similar to the present pair (H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, op. cit., figs. 187-190). A study of the Victoria and Albert Museum listing of drawings does not identify a particular drawing that corresponds with the present outstanding example.
The mirror stands apart from other Linnell work with the wonderful addition of its figural terms with naturalistic headdresses, but otherwise relates closely to the pair probably supplied for Sir Richard Hoare at Barn Elms in 1753 (see H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, 1980, vol. II, p. 100, fig. 191). Another pair of mirrors sharing the same profile was thought to have once formed part of the embellishment of Badminton House, Gloucestershire, carried out by Charles, 4th Duke of Beaufort (d.1756) in the 1750s. The Badminton information was based upon the records of the renowned New York dealers, French & Company from 1956. Documents show payments to William Linnell from the Duke of Beaufort totalling some £800 between October 1751 and December 1755, including furnishings for the Chinese bedroom, the centrepiece of which was the remarkable bed with pagoda canopy and gilt dragons to each corner, the whole suite japanned in black, red and gold (ibid. pp. 106 - 108), and probably also carved mirrors, japanned bookcases and two kneehole writing-desks. The French & Co. Badminton mirrors were offered Christie’s New York, 15 April 2005, lot 280.
The Barn Elms and Badminton mirrors are closely aligned to a drawing attributed to Linnell, part of a large collection, in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see H. Haywood, 'The Drawings of John Linnell in the Victoria and Albert Museum', Furniture History, 1969, fig. 46 and reproduced here), which is inscribed to the frame 'Breakfast Room'. The Barn Elms mirrors, in particular, share the same stylized shell crest, but all three are of the same distinctive profile with their oval shaped glasses framing the apron. Other related drawings vary in the design of their cresting which sometimes incorporate a basket of flowers or cornucopia but otherwise are equally similar to the present pair (H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, op. cit., figs. 187-190). A study of the Victoria and Albert Museum listing of drawings does not identify a particular drawing that corresponds with the present outstanding example.