Mirror
ca. 1707 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
Full-length mirrors were an additional luxury and were usually hung between the windows. Glass was not available at the full size, so large mirrors are usually made of two pieces, one for the longer lower section and a separate shaped piece for the upper. Elaborately coloured glass or tooled giltwood borders emphasized the spectacular effect that such larger mirrors gave to an interior.
Materials & Making
The glass border was decorated on the back by applying gold leaf, engraving a pattern in the gold and then applying a layer of blue paint to fill the pattern. This was called 'mosaic work'. It was later given the name verre églomisé, after the Parisian picture framer Jean-Baptiste Glomy (died around 1786). The ornamental pattern used here is close to the engravings of Jean Berain (died 1711), court designer to Louis XIV (ruled 1643-1715). The figures in the lower borders represent Flora, the classical goddess of flowers, and her husband Zephyr, the west wind of springtime.
People
The mirror may have been made in the workshop of Thomas Pelletier (born 1680, died after 1725) and Ren‚ Pelletier (active 1681, died 1726), sons of Jean Pelletier, a Huguenot (French Protestant ‚migr‚) carver and gilder from Paris. Their workshop was in Covent Garden, London. In 1707 the Pelletier brothers provided Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu with verre églomisé overmantels for Ditton House, Buckinghamshire.
Full-length mirrors were an additional luxury and were usually hung between the windows. Glass was not available at the full size, so large mirrors are usually made of two pieces, one for the longer lower section and a separate shaped piece for the upper. Elaborately coloured glass or tooled giltwood borders emphasized the spectacular effect that such larger mirrors gave to an interior.
Materials & Making
The glass border was decorated on the back by applying gold leaf, engraving a pattern in the gold and then applying a layer of blue paint to fill the pattern. This was called 'mosaic work'. It was later given the name verre églomisé, after the Parisian picture framer Jean-Baptiste Glomy (died around 1786). The ornamental pattern used here is close to the engravings of Jean Berain (died 1711), court designer to Louis XIV (ruled 1643-1715). The figures in the lower borders represent Flora, the classical goddess of flowers, and her husband Zephyr, the west wind of springtime.
People
The mirror may have been made in the workshop of Thomas Pelletier (born 1680, died after 1725) and Ren‚ Pelletier (active 1681, died 1726), sons of Jean Pelletier, a Huguenot (French Protestant ‚migr‚) carver and gilder from Paris. Their workshop was in Covent Garden, London. In 1707 the Pelletier brothers provided Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu with verre églomisé overmantels for Ditton House, Buckinghamshire.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 3 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Cast glass, with borders of <i>verre eglomisé</i> (glass backed with engraved gold leaf), and silvered pinewood |
| Brief description | Mirror, verre eglomise, English, 1710-30 |
| Physical description | Mural looking glass. Narrow outer frame and wide cresting of softwood carved in relief, the cresting also in openwork and silvered. Inner glass frame decorated on the reverse in gilding against a blue ground (verre eglomise). Two looking glass plates with bevelled edges fastened by ten transverse binders of chased brass, the upper plate arch-shaped, and with ground scroll decoration, the lower plate rectangular. The narrow, gilded outer frame with foliated moulding in relief. The carved cresting in the form of a female bust on a pedestal flanked by classical flanked by symmetrical scrollwork and acanthus foliage. In the inner (verre eglomise) frame on either side below, a pair of nymphs of divine personifications standing on plinths below canopies; the other portions of this frame decorated with panels containing foliations in gold against blue. Upper plate decorated with a scrolled device with three formal thistles. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Brigadier W. E. Clark CMG, DSO through Art Fund |
| Object history | Possibly supplied by the workshop of Thomas Pelletier (born in Paris, 1680, died in London, after 1725) and Ren Pelletier (born in France, active in Amsterdam, 1681, died in London 1726) Probably made in London, using English glass. Notes from R.P. 54/2599 31 August 1954 Gift form lists as "mirror carved (..?..) cresting. Decorated with verre eglomise ( )17th cent." 23/8/54 Minute of Ashton states that the "eglomise looks better than either we already have" Draft catalogue description Lists this as "English - early 18th century". In 1950 the mirror was advertised for sale in Connoisseur magazine by the antique dealers, Mallet & Son, who described it as ‘a superb William & Mary mirror, circa 1690’. |
| Historical context | Comparable mirrors Carlton Hobbs, Richly Furnish'd: Baroque Furniture in England 1660-1735 [selling catalogue] including an important group of seat furniture from the collection of Nicholas Grindley LLC. Foreward by Dr Adam Bowett (2019) 4 A verre eglomise overmantel attrib Pelletier workshop with painted section with allegory of William III, London 1680-1700, pp. 28-35 |
| Summary | Object Type Full-length mirrors were an additional luxury and were usually hung between the windows. Glass was not available at the full size, so large mirrors are usually made of two pieces, one for the longer lower section and a separate shaped piece for the upper. Elaborately coloured glass or tooled giltwood borders emphasized the spectacular effect that such larger mirrors gave to an interior. Materials & Making The glass border was decorated on the back by applying gold leaf, engraving a pattern in the gold and then applying a layer of blue paint to fill the pattern. This was called 'mosaic work'. It was later given the name verre églomisé, after the Parisian picture framer Jean-Baptiste Glomy (died around 1786). The ornamental pattern used here is close to the engravings of Jean Berain (died 1711), court designer to Louis XIV (ruled 1643-1715). The figures in the lower borders represent Flora, the classical goddess of flowers, and her husband Zephyr, the west wind of springtime. People The mirror may have been made in the workshop of Thomas Pelletier (born 1680, died after 1725) and Ren‚ Pelletier (active 1681, died 1726), sons of Jean Pelletier, a Huguenot (French Protestant ‚migr‚) carver and gilder from Paris. Their workshop was in Covent Garden, London. In 1707 the Pelletier brothers provided Ralph, 1st Duke of Montagu with verre églomisé overmantels for Ditton House, Buckinghamshire. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | 54/2599 - RF number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.27:1 to 4-1954 |
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| Record created | January 24, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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