Beschreibung:

An important George II giltwood and carton pierre wall mirror in the manner of Matthias Lock and John Linnell the shaped plate within a rocaille and column frame, with carved leaf branches supporting brackets for porcelain vases or figures, with rockwork and trellis decoration, the top with a serpentine balustrade surmounted by a Chinaman seated under a leaf canopy and hung with bells and flanked by exotic birds, the base with pierced fencing and a central canopy supported by columns, c.1755-60, 189 x 112cm. This mirror with its overtly Chinese inspired decoration takes its design cues from some of the most celebrated mirror designers of the mid-18th century including Matthias Lock Thomas Johnson and John Linnell For example see designs by Matthias Lock from 'A New Book of Ornaments for Looking Glass Frames' c.1752 for the designs employing the trellis motif and for a Chinaman seated under a leafy canopy. Also William and John Linnell's designs for pier-glasses and girandoles which incorporate balustrading and the combination of a Chinaman and exotic birds, see Helena Hayward and Pat Kirkham, William and John Linnell volume II, pp. 82 and 96, pl. 159 and 184. See Geoffrey Wills, English Looking Glasses, A study of the Glass, Frames and Makers (1670-1820), p.96 for the actual mirror. Also Ronald Phillips, Mirrors, p.256 for a very similar mirror but with the addition of a ram to the canopied base. Provenance: Purchased from Messrs Mallett & Sons, probably in the late 1950s. From the collection formed by the late The Hon Mrs Daisy Fellowes, Donnington Grove, Berkshire, ex. The Blue Bedroom. Read more »