CIRCA 1755

Details

A GEORGE II GILTWOOD GIRANDOLE MIRROR
CIRCA 1755
With an asymmetrical frame decorated with naturalistic foliage and acanthus scrolls, surmounted by a ho-ho bird perched on a scroll, issuing two scrolled candle-branches with gilt-metal leaf-shaped drip-pans and nozzles
47 in. (119.4 cm.) high, 22 ½ in. (57.2 cm.) wide

Provenance

Acquired from Jeremy Ltd., London.

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.

Lot Essay

These mirrors are conceived in the French picturesque manner popularised by 'Girandole' patterns issued in Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1762, Third edition, pl. CLXXVIII, and the carver Thomas Johnson's Twelve Girandoles, 1755. They represent the merging of various styles with their whimsical 'antique' pilasters fused with vegetation emblematic of the Elements and their homage to chinoiserie. The carved giltwood lattice-work basket of flowers at the top of the girandoles is a motif often associated to William and John Linnell, as illustrated in a pair of pier glasses, circa 1755-60, made for Bramshill, Hampshire, and ordered by Sir Monoux Cope, 7th Baronet (d. 1795) (H. Hayward, P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, p. 98, figs. 187-188).

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