Large and Finely Carved George II Style Giltwood Mirror, English, circa 1830

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 Large Regence Style Carved Giltwood and Gesso Mirror. French, Circa 1860. This fine mirror is almost 2m in height. The arched mirror plate is framed by carved uprights with ...

A Fine Pair of George III Style Carved Giltwood Mirrors. Each mirror has a rectangular bevelled mirror plate within a carved giltwood frame of acanthus and 'C'-scrolls, surmounted b...

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 ...

An English Edwardian, George II style carved scarlet and giltwood mirror, with a bevelled plate. Carved throughout with foliage and surmounted with an eagle.

A well-carved English George II giltwood oval-form mirror surmounted by a bold crest of a hoho bird surrounded by a lively foliate vine.

The exuberantly carved openwork crest composed of dramatic interlacing C-scroll motifs with floral and foliate elements cascading down the sides; all surrounding the original beveled...

The exuberantly carved openwork crest composed of dramatic interlacing C-scroll motifs with floral and foliate elements cascading down the sides; all surrounding the original beveled...