CIRCA 1720, ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN BELCHIER

Described by a contemporary as 'a very eminent cabinetmaker', this finely crafted girandole can be attributed on stylistic grounds to 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' (Ed. Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert, 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 26, 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 this mirror incorporates a bold double-scroll flourish that is reflected in the ornamentation of the present example (Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture 1715-1740, Antique Collectors Club, Woodbridge, 2009, p. 292). The second Erdigg mirror is surmounted in a similar fashion to the Dunecht mirror by a plumed mask. The Dunecht mirror is also related to another with a similar plumed mask formerly in the Untermyer Collection now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, which has also been attributed to Belchier (Yvonne Hackenbroch, Highlights of the Untermyer Collection of English and Continental Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1977, p. 73, no. 126). Other characteristics that suggest that these mirrors may be by the same hand or more likely copying each other are the inclusion of gesso carved strap work ornamentation that terminates in a foliate scroll and the addition of a single strap work scroll flanking the lower portion of the frame above where the original sconces would have been fitted. There are several examples of this style of mirror in existence today, therefore John Belchier was possibly not the sole craftsman to provide such works.

A similar mirror 'possibly by John Belchier' was sold Sotheby's London, 5 June 2007, lot 101, for £26,400.