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Lot Essay
The double-scrolled capping of the mirror plate, Venus-shell carving and plum-style cresting are stylistic elements often associated with the work of John Belchier (c. 1670-1726), who from 1712 had established a workshop at Nottingham Court, Short's Gardens in the parish of St. Giles in the Fields, London. Renowned for supplying mirrors, one of his printed trade labels records that he was making up and providing 'all sorts of fine Peer and Chimney-Glasses and Glass Sconces' (G. Beard and C. Gilbert, ed., Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Furniture History Society, Leeds, 1986, pp. 59-60). Belchier's most significant commissions include the provision of mirrors to St. Paul's Cathedral and, during the same period between 1722 and 1726, of pier glasses and furniture to John Meller at Erddig in Clwyd, North Wales. Of the two extant mirrors at Erdigg, one - in carved and gilded gesso and of the most expensive glass at a cost of £50 - was installed in the Best Bedchamber. The flattened arch to the top of the Erdigg mirror incorporates a bold double-scroll flourish that is reflected in the ornamentation of the present example (A. Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture 1715-1740, Woodbridge, 2009, p. 292, fig. 6:5:1). The inclusion of gesso carved strapwork ornamentation that terminates in a foliate scroll is also a characteristic feature that relates the present lot to the documented production of Belchier's workshop.
A similar example, possibly by Belchier, was sold by the late Mary Fry (neé Fane), Fulbeck Hall, Lincolnshire, Sotheby's, Olympia, 8 October 2002, lot 14. Another sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 22 November 2007, lot 652, and a further similar example, attributed to John Belchier, sold from the collection of the Pearson family, Cowdray Park, Christie's house sale, 13-15 September 2011, lot 211.