Butchoff Antiques Pier Mirrors and Console

A George II Style Pier Glass in the manner of Matthias Lock Of rectangular form, constructed in giltwood and gesso, elaborately carved incorporating f...

Constructed in walnut, richly and finely carved, rising from a serpentine base supported by shaped and scrolled feet, with an spread wing eagle, with one talon aloft, holding a shiel...

A fine and substantial mirror in the Robert Adam manner. Primarily giltwood, and having an the elliptical mirror plate housed within a continuous band of stiff leaf moulding, encl...

A George III style carved giltwood mirror After a design by Thomas Johnson Of grandiose proportions, the central oval glass plate built up in a concentric arrangement of mercury ...

A George III Giltwood Pier Mirror In the Manner of Thomas Johnson An exceptionally detailed design; the superb carved decoration housing a shaped rectangular plate and undulating mirrored borders; the inner frame closely tied to the outer frame and leading the eye around the mirror. The grandiose masterful carving incorporating C-scrolls, flowering branchwork, stylized icicles, acanthus leaves, and distinctive architectural follies and figures which firmly place this mirror within the canon of Johnson's greatest designs. The confident execution is a great testament to the technical prowess and artistic creativity of one of the greatest carvers and designers of the eighteenth century, circa 1760. Provenance Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, Farmleigh, Co. Dublin, (1880?-1927); The Earls of Iveagh, Farmleigh, Co. Dublin & Elveden Hall, Suffolk (1927-2018). Thomas Johnson (1723-1799) Thomas Johnson was one of the most skilled carvers and furniture designers in Georgian England. Drawing inspiration from the Fables of Aesop, the rococo, China, and the idealised rustic life, his work is whimsical, exuberant and witty. Chippendale borrowed freely from his work. Johnson was a founder member of the 'Antigallican Society', a group who excoriated the French taste. In addition to its relation to Johnson's designs, this mirror also reflects the influence of Lock, the great master with whom he worked for a period. Lock published many sketches and pattern books, including A New Book of Ornaments for Looking Glasses in 1752, introducing several idiosyncratic features which Johnson would adopt such as the small decorative urns...