Three Centuries Shop Mirrors

A period English Regency convex mirror in a carved and water gilt frame, the mirror is surmounted with two scrolling eagles heads which s...

A mahogany cheval mirror and jewellery cabinet, once belonging to Leitizia Bonaparte, Napoleon's mother. The veneered semi circular topped mirror framed by columns topped with gilt bronze cassolettes and single arm candle holders. The bottom section is fronted by two doors which open to reveal nine shallow leather cartonniers and six jewellery drawers; the whole carcass richly decorated with gilt bronze friezes and various classical motives. Similar gilded bronze mounts are found on various pieces of furniture in the collection of the Louvre Paris. This rare museum worthy piece of furniture came from the Chateau Du Pont Sur Seine. The piece is not stamped but the quality of the mahogany and the amount of finely chiseled and burnished gilt bronze mounts, plus the presence of the cartonnier and jewellery drawers almost certainly point to a royal provenance and which almost certainly came from the workshop of Georges Jacob. The Chateau De Pont Sur Seine was originally built in 1632 and hosted such important historical figures as Catherine de Medicis and Cardinal Richelieu. In the late 17C it was acquired by the Duc de Saxony, one of Louis XVI’s uncles whose family maintained ownership until 1792 until the start of the French Revolution when they had to vacate to escape the guillotine. While it suffered damage by the revolutionairies it was still very habitable and in 1805, Napoleon purchased the chateau for his mother Madame Letizia Bonaparte where she resided until Napoleon’s fall from grace in 1814. Madame Mere...

A fine Regency giltwood and composition triple plate overmantel mirror, each mirror being beveled. The frieze is decorated with ebonized balls above alternating acanthus and anthemio...

A beautifully carved gilt wood framed oval mirror French, circa 1840, gilt frame carved with an egg and dart design alternating with convex fillets and an inner gilded beaded loop. A...

A small period Louis XV carved and gilded beechwood console table, the palm entwined roccaille cabriole legs joined by a similarly carved stretcher crowned with carved swagged urn. ...

A large French Empire carved and original water gilded Empire picture frame inset with a modern mirror, the corners of the deeply scooped sides set with palmettes.          

A large, beautifully carved and gilded mirror frame in the Louis XV style; open carving to the sides and corners with two carved birds on each of the four sides, the top further deco...

A rare Biedermeier standing table mirror in ebony and fruitwood. The shield shaped frame is supporting an oval mirror surmounted by two facing ebonized Egyptian sphynx...

A fine pair of relatively large Empire style rectangular mirrors; the frames having a gilded bronze molding around the glass, and gilt rosettes on the top two sides; the mirrors are ...

A very handsome and unusual table top dressing mirror likely made in Austria in the early to mid 19thC. The shield shaped mirror has a gilded...

A rare and highly unusual French Napoleon III carved wood, gesso and gilded frame with a modern mirror in it. The frame is decorated with cartouches and is further embellished with...

A 20thC copy of a French Louis XVI demi-lune console and over mirror. Both pieces are painted in a two toned light blue/grey with gilded highlights to the decorative elements on both...

A rare, unique and dramatic pair of Rococo style marble topped giltwood triangular shaped consoles and complimentary slightly elliptical giltwood mirrors. The four pieces are believed to be northern Italian most likely from the Venetian region. The design and carving of the superstructure presented with bunches of grapes, vine leaves, branches and twigs. A winged dragon is shown swirling around and down the central leg of each console. The three legs are joined with a lower stretcher are all presented as vine tree trunks from which germinate more grape leaves and branches. They both have shaped red/grey mottled marble tops. The consoles show more signs of early to mid-18th century Rococo chinoiserie influence. The mirrors were likely made slightly later in the 19th century but in the same Italian region, and appear to have a more Japanese influence in their design especially the hawk/eagle leaning over the top of the mirror. The giltwood frames of the mirrors are completely covered with gilded branches and leaves. On the left side of each mirror is a 'fantastical' dragon-bird, his huge wings spread out and his long tail clinging around the lower branches. He looks up into the eyes of the top hawk/eagle who appears ready to attack the dragon-bird. The whole is a real virtuoso display of carving and whimsical Rococo design. Chippendale in England and his contemporaries were some of the first cabinet makers to design furniture in the Rococo style, the term taken from the French 'Rocaille' (rockwork), as in fantasy constructions such as grottoes. The style originated in France early in the 18th century when there was a reaction against the weighty classicism of the Baroque style. The consequent taste was for something lighter representing an escape from the stifling, self-conscious grandeurs of the Louis XIV period. As pioneered by designers such as Jean Berain and Pierre Lepautre...

A small high relief hand carved temple giltwood framed mirror with some with a Chinese inscription at the top of the frame that says "Fortune From Heaven".

A decorative pair of contemporary Venetian beveled glass mirrors of almost rectangular shape with domed tops.

An important 18th century Italian giltwood mirror over a conforming demilune giltwood console table having a white marble top. The table has a carved open work apron with decorative circles framing rosettes joined with leaf work, large carved rosettes top the circular fluted and tapering legs. The tall rectangular mirror...

A centrally pivoted cheval mirror with gilded bronze mounts; the arched beveled mirror framed in mahogany with gilded bronze rosettes; the mirror...