Description
A large-scale 18th century Rococo carved giltwood mirror. Circa 1740.
This very impressive, late-Baroque period mirror exhibits many of the features of the early- to mid-18th century, when asymmetry and the craze for the extravagant Rococo reached its peak. This chic form harmonizes well with the fashion for romantic chinoiserie and light-hearted theatrical expression with C-scrolls, foliage and sinuous curves incorporating rocaille work. Very much “a style without rules”.
In very good condition overall.
An almost identical mirror is illustrated in Herbert Cescinsky ‘English Furniture Of The Eighteenth Century’, George Routledge & Sons (1911) vol. II, p. 328, fig. 362 – however in this illustration the eagle holding the spray of roses and leaves appears to be a later addition.
Note similarities with a Rococo carved frame containing an 18th-century Chinese mirror picture in the mirror room at Saltram House, Plymton, Devon.
For the ultimate in Rococo and Baroque visit the Würzburg Residence – Balthazar Neumann.
References:
https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/rococo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque
Rococo | Boundless Art History – Lumen Learning
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/rococo
