LATE 17TH CENTURY, PARTIALLY REFRAMED CIRCA 1725, POSSIBLY BY JOHN BELCHIER

The outer frame with refined cut-gesso decoration appears to have been commissioned to encase the original slender outer frame of the earlier plates and has been designed to visually support the William & Mary cresting, contemporary with this earlier mirror. Close examination of the structure of this additional outer framing of the lower part of the mirror, notably the method of bracing employed to the reverse of the joints to the bottom corners, suggests that this was carried out in the same workshop as lot 46 was made and it is on these grounds that the possible association with John Belchier (fl.1699 - d.1753) has been established (see also lots 110 & 120). Interestingly, the earlier mirror at the core appears to have more in common with the work Belchier's contemporaries, James Moore (1670-1726) and his business partner, John Gumley (fl. 1691-1727), the cresting bears particularly close comparison with mirrors associated with the partnership in the collection of The National Trust at Beningborough Hall, North Yorkshire (NT 1190823.1).