Rococo Style Giltwood and Painted Trumeau Mirror

A large and very finely carved Louis XV style parcel-gilt and painted trumeau mirror. French, circa 1890. This exceptional and very rare trumeau mirror has an arched mirror pl...

A large Rococo style carved giltwood and silver gilt mirror. Possibly German, circa 1870. The arched mirror plate within a moulded re-entrant inner frame, flanked by an outer ...

A Magnificent Pair of George II Style English Carved Giltwood ‘Rococo’ Wall Mirrors After A Design By Thomas Johnson. Of large proportions, each mirror having a cartouche-shaped plate within a profusely carved and pierced branch-entwined frame with stylised acanthus foliate rocaille and ‘C’-scroll decoration, architectural motifs and running dogs, surmounted by an asymmetrical pagoda form cresting with rockwork spires and a seated rustic couple holding a basket, flanked by confronted Ho-Ho birds, with a conforming asymmetrical apron of acanthus and waterwork icicles centred by a perching bird. This magnificent and ornate pair of English wall mirrors or ‘pier glasses’ are refined and reduced from a design by Thomas Johnson (1723–1799) first published in 1756 and included in his ‘Collections of Designs’ (1758), plate 4, and republished in his ‘One Hundred and Fifty New Designs" (1761) as plate 22. Pier Glasses were designed to be placed on the wall or 'pier' between windows; as well as forming part of a decorative scheme they provided an important functional use, creating a reversal of dynamic with the windows at night, reflecting and maximising the light given off by candles or oil lamps. Johnson’s asymmetrical design creates a sense of fluidity and lightness to the mirrors, employing ‘contraste’ in the placing or absence of elements, to create a stylised form, which through the dynamic tension of its constituent parts instils the mirrors with a sense of playfulness and vitality. In London throughout the 1740s and 1750s there developed a great enthusiasm for the whimsical Rococo style, and it rapidly became the height of fashion, popularised, and disseminated throughout the country and further afield by cabinetmakers’ 'Books of Prices', and 'Directories'. The second half of the 19th century saw a revival of the Rococo style in England and many designers and furniture makers turned once again to Chippendale’s ‘Director’ and designs by Matthias Lock and Thomas Johnson for inspiration, with fine examples based on modified designs or specific plates. Thomas Johnson’s designs, executed in a vigourous picturesque manner, are often inspired by the work of earlier French designers, transposing motifs taken from engraved ornament by Jean Bérain, Daniel Marot, William de la Cour, J. B. Toro and Francis Barlow...

A Pair of Venetian Rococo Carved Giltwood Mirrors. These mirrors have elaborate pierced strapwork crestings surmounted by a shell-shaped corona above a cartouche-shaped plate, the...

A fine Louis XVI style carved giltwood and gesso mirror. The pierced scrolling crest surmounted by ho-ho birds flanking a basket of fruit over a shaped central bevelled mirror pla...

A large carved florentine giltwood mirror in the Baroque Revival Style. This impressive mirror has a rectangular bevelled glass plate set within a scrolling acanthus carved frame...

Impressive size French Trumeau mirror in the Louis XVI style dating from the early 1800s. The oil on canvas painting depicts a musician dressed in court attire, a young gentleman pla...

Giltwood Trumeau with Beautiful Lyre Trophy

Above the framed mirror plate, the panel is decorated with a floral motif and carved musical instruments.

This charming mirror adds distinction and a certain playfulness to an interior. The painting is larger than the mirror. The countryman plays his flute f...

Painted Rococo trumeau mirror, having a painted finish showing desirable natural wear, its raised and fielded frame, surrounding foliate scrolls and a shaped mirrorplate. Stock I...

18th century French Louis XVI painted and giltwood Armorial Trumeau mirror. Beautifully executed 18th century French Louis XVI painted and gilt trumeau with shield design. This antiq...