Iberian Mirror

This English 1930s mirror-framed dressing table mirror could also serve as a frame for a photograph. On the cresting are three acid-etched plumes...

A Louis XVI trumeau mirror with a carved panel representing an allegory of music. It depicts a violin stringed with metal wires, a tambourine, and other musical instruments suspended...

This mahogany commode has the fluted rails and canted corners typical of case furniture made along the coasts of the Baltic and North Seas around 1800. More difficult to pinpoint, however, is the exact place of its making, since this geographical region stretches from Germany to Russia, and north from Poland to Scandinavia. That said, a strikingly similar, if slightly plainer commode in a private German collection bears an old paper label that identifies it as having been made in the city of Altona. It also bears the seal of King Christian VII of Denmark who reigned until 1808. At the time, Altona was in the independent Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, located between Denmark and Prussia. Both nations tried to annex the Duchy, and in 1848 it was ceded to Prussia, which became part of Germany in 1871. A North Sea port, Altona was a member of the Hanseatic League, an association of seaports that was established in the 14th century to foster trade and police the high seas. Around 1800, the aforementioned King Christian of Denmark, who was also the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, allowed Jews to freely settle in Altona to increase the tax base. This allowed them to conduct business in neighboring Hamburg, a larger financial hub that maintained quotas. The prosperous Jewish families of Altona built villas there, and decorated them with furnishings that were made locally and imported. Many of those makers owned copies of furniture-pattern books, which were widely disseminated among these seaports, accounting for the difficulty in determining if a piece was made in Altona, Stockholm, or St. Petersburg. We can’t trace our commode to a Danish king or a known Altona merchant, but we can link it to the New World empire builders...

This pair of Italian Neo-Classical console tables were carved, painted battleship-grey, gilded, and topped with slabs of Carrara marble. Each has a carved cartouche — one with a pair...

Carved Italian neoclassical giltwood mirror, 18th century.

A Neoclassical Swag Gilt Gesso Mirrored Frame Wall Mirror. Heavy frame with wood backing. Measures 46" in width and 44" in height.

With urn and flower crest over an oval portrait. Mirror set in a marble frame with giltwood details.

Giltwood Neoclassical mirror. One large rectangular mirror surrounded by ebonized moldings flanked by 2 smaller panels below a ebonized composition panel below acorn & gilt crown molding.