Austrian (Vienna), 1820-25, made by Karl Schmidt; oval frame veneered with mother-of-pearl, with painted back panel

Oak, veneered in mother-of-pearl, with gilt-bronze mounts, on the reverse a painting of St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna in gouache

On 21 October 2004 Christie's New York sold a paired desk and cheval mirror attributed to Karl Schmidt (lots 1200 and 1201). The notes to these lots record that Schmidt
'was a turner, who was one of the leading mother-of-pearl craftsmen in Vienna in the early 19th century. He won a prize for mother-of-pearl novelties at the first Austrian industrial exhibition, held in Vienna in 1835. Schmidt collaborated with the entrepreneur Stefan Syré and ran a workshop at Kohlmarkt 1152 known as 'Zur Stadt Carlsbad'. An article in the Wiener Zeitschrift für Kunst, Literatur und Mode of 1829 describs the desk [sold by Christie's].... The text continues to include a mother-of-pearl and gilt bronze armchair that was made en suite with the table and elaborates they they were the second execution of this model. The first set was supplied to the King of Prussia, while this second group was commissioned by the King of England. There is no record of such a table ever having been in the Royal Collection and the early death of George IV in 1830 may have prevented the actual delivery of the pieces.
It is further interesting to note the particular interest of the Spanish court in mother-of-pearl objects. A suite of furniture including a canapé, six chairs, a table, two mirrors and two clocks was supplied to the King of Spain by Johann Tanzwohl of Vienna circa 1820-30, while a travelling necessaire bearing the cypher of Ferdinand VII, King of Spain between 1814 and 1833, was supplied by Nicolas Rozet probably in 1819 (Christie's London, 28 May 1992, lot 177). Little noticed is also a suite of mother-of-pearl furniture, comprising two side chairs, a canapé, a dressing table and a clock, that is at Rough Point, Doris Duke's Newport Mansion, which may indeed be part of the suite supplied to the Kind of Spain by Tanzwohl.'

The mirror is signed 'Carl Schmid 1821' almost certainly for the maker Karl Schmid who won a bronze medal for mother-of-pearl luxury goods at the first Austrian industrial exhibition in 1835. However, another cabinet-maker of the same name is known to have worked as a journeyman in Prague around 1820 and then in Vienna, which makes a definite attribution difficult.

See 'Object History' for further notes on Schmidt.

This mirror wasalmost certainly made by Karl Schmid who won a bronze medal for mother-of-pearl novelties at the first Austrian Industrial Products Exhibition held in 1835. The back of the painting is signed 'Carl Schmid 1821', so the maker may have been another cabinet-maker of the same name, who worked in Prague in about 1820 and subsequently moved to Vienna. In Vienna Karl Schmid, who was noted as a turner, was celebrated for his work in mother-of-pearl.

An inscription inside the drawer indicates that this mirror was probably sold by a cabinet-maker named Damm in Paris. It is likely that he was a merchant in small luxury items: many such dealers had shops in the arcades of the Palais Royal in Paris, and such dealers made a speciality of selling items veneered in mother-of-pearl.

Balthasar Wigand, who painted the view of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna on the reverse of the mirror, specialised in gouache views of famous Viennese sites and buildings.

W.12-1977