Le Louvre French Antiques Trumeau Mirrors

This Italian trumeau mirror, hand-carved circa 1780, features a 20 ½” H x 38” W mirror set beneath a maritime oil painting. The giltwood frame has angular protrusions in the upper corner, each filled with a small, raised floret. An egg-and-dart border graces the edges of the frame, interrupted by stepped-out plinths at the bottom corners. Both the mirror pane and the painting are surrounded by bead and reel motifs. The wonderfully executed painting depicts a bustling harbor filled with vessels from three different countries. A majority of the crafts feature English flags, while there is one from the Netherlands, with the third representation being a flag from the nation of Catalonia, which would later become an autonomous state in Spain. The blue sky, filled with white fluffy clouds, provides good weather for the numerous boats and ships navigating the choppy waters. Very mountainous terrain can be seen in the background, with a white lighthouse and a blue roof on the shore. In front of the highlands is tall Romanesque architecture comprised of several niches, transoms, and bricked columns topped with flowing greenery. Several men are gathered on the shore, carrying cargo to be loaded into boats approaching the harbor. Our Italian trumeau mirror with harbor scene oil painting...

Trumeau boiserie mirrors, such as this painted white offering from France, were designed to be placed on a wall in between two windows. The motifs and color palettes of these mirrors would often match the surrounding paneling. Based on the size (seven+ feet tall and over four and a half feet wide), our mirror would have been hung in a large room such as a salon. The inclusion of a floral latticework with canted upper corners that are topped by volute leaves indicates this mirror is in the style of the Regence Period. Also of note is the large foliate medallion that surmounts the lattice, flanked by C-scrolls that seamlessly transition into floral margents; these are traits of the Rococo style that emerged during the reign of the Regent. The shaped glass pane is surrounded by a border of beading set inside thick, protruding molding adorned with foliage. Our white trumeau mirror...

This very tall trumeau mirror was recently discovered in the storage attic of a chateau in Normandy, France. The beautiful mirror, which features both hand-painted and giltwood eleme...