Dressing Mirror, Circa 1858

Details

WILLIAM BURGES (1827-1881)
Dressing Mirror, Circa 1858
ebonized walnut, inlaid with hardstones
The rectangular beveled plate surrounded by beveled roundels and shaped plates, in a molded frame between uprights with marble knobs, above a rectangular base enclosing an ebonized drawer with rouge griotte panels centered by a lapis lazuli roundel with heart-shaped pendant handle with 'JAY' cypher, the handles marked EE (possibly for the firm E & E Emanuel), on bracket feet
29 1/2 in. (75 cm.) high, 22 1/2 in. (57 cm.) wide, 9 3/4 in. (25 cm.) deep

Provenance

Designed by William Burges as a wedding present for the Reverend J.A. Yatman and his wife Anna Hamilton (d.1922), The Hall, Winscombe, 1858.
Osmond Tricks, Bristol [auctioneers], 9 September 1983, part of lots 502-3.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 30 October 1998, lot 754.
Sir Paul Getty, K.B.E., London Residence, sold; Christie's, London, 25 November 2004, lot 151.
Acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty from the above.

Literature

J. Mordaunt Crook, William Burges and the High Victorian Dream, London, 1981, p. 295 & p. 406, n. 26J.
J. Cooper, Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors, London, 1987, p. 72, fig. 152.

Special Notice

Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The cypher on the handle is that of 'J. A. Y.' for the Reverend John Augustus Yatman, of Winscombe, brother of Herbert George Yatman of Haslemere. The latter commissioned William Burges to design a superb painted cabinet which has since become known as 'The Yatman Cabinet' (now in the Victoria & Albert Museum) in 1858. In the same year, the Reverend J. A. Yatman got married, and Burges' gifted the couple an entire painted bedroom filled with furniture, consisting of a side table, an half-tester bed, two wardrobes and the present lot. The room has since been overpainted but a side table, bed, two wardrobes and the present dressing mirror survive (J. Mordaunt Crook, loc. cit.).

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