Mirror
ca. 1720 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
The combination of mirror, bracket clock, thermometer and barometer is apparently unique. The date of the mirror is based on the approximate dating of the barometer to about 1720.
Ownership & Use
Inventories show that barometers were usually hung in the hall, providing a useful guide to the weather prior to leaving the house. The mirror was in the collection of the Mildmay family and according to family tradition hung in their London house in Stoke Newington.
Design
The unusual shape of this mirror recurs with certain mirror plates on desk and bookcases of the mid-1740s. These were probably inspired by earlier forms, like this example, and are often thought to be the work of the cabinet-maker Giles Grendey (1693-1780). The style of the decorative carving is close to the work of Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), though it does not have Gibbons' naturalistic fluency.
Materials & Making
The survival of the original oil gilded finish is remarkable. The gold has been applied to the carved surface over a paint ground. In the border between the inner and outer mouldings, sand has been mixed with the paint to provide a granular surface which forms a contrast with the smooth gold on the carved surfaces.
The combination of mirror, bracket clock, thermometer and barometer is apparently unique. The date of the mirror is based on the approximate dating of the barometer to about 1720.
Ownership & Use
Inventories show that barometers were usually hung in the hall, providing a useful guide to the weather prior to leaving the house. The mirror was in the collection of the Mildmay family and according to family tradition hung in their London house in Stoke Newington.
Design
The unusual shape of this mirror recurs with certain mirror plates on desk and bookcases of the mid-1740s. These were probably inspired by earlier forms, like this example, and are often thought to be the work of the cabinet-maker Giles Grendey (1693-1780). The style of the decorative carving is close to the work of Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), though it does not have Gibbons' naturalistic fluency.
Materials & Making
The survival of the original oil gilded finish is remarkable. The gold has been applied to the carved surface over a paint ground. In the border between the inner and outer mouldings, sand has been mixed with the paint to provide a granular surface which forms a contrast with the smooth gold on the carved surfaces.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 4 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Pine, with original oil gilding |
| Brief description | Mirror, with barometer and clock shelf, English, 1730-1735 |
| Physical description | Mirror with barometer and thermometer. The frame of carved and gilded and pine in the form of a symmetrical ogee curves, is ornamented with egg and tongue and leaf enrichments. The barometer, thermometer and bracket for supporting a clock are all carved in the same manner. The eagle is surrounded by garlands of flowers. The spaces are filled in with mirror plates their functions being covered by slips of carved ornament. At the base are scrolls of acanthus ornament to match the cresting. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | A debate has arisen over whether the eagle is an original part of the object. When the V&A acquired the mirror in 1927 there was an eagle attatched to the frame in a downwards flying position. In an Italian publication in 1967 the eagle was photographed flying upwards. The eagle was not fitted in the British Galleries display, and prior to the British Galleries was never displayed with the eagle. |
| Gallery label |
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| Object history | The mirror was formerly in the posssesion of Mr. G. St. John Mildmay at Queen's Camel which, when Humphrey Mildmay died without issue, passed to his great-niece Jane, who married Sir Henry Paulet St. John Bart in 1786, who afterwards took the name of Mildmay. The mirror is said to have been removed to Queen's Camel from Mildmay House, Stoke Newington, a house acquired by Sir Henry Mildmay, one of the judges at the trial of Charles I. Later it was lot 113 in the Mulliner sale at Christies, 10th July 1924, when it realised 280 guineas. |
| Association | |
| Summary | Object Type The combination of mirror, bracket clock, thermometer and barometer is apparently unique. The date of the mirror is based on the approximate dating of the barometer to about 1720. Ownership & Use Inventories show that barometers were usually hung in the hall, providing a useful guide to the weather prior to leaving the house. The mirror was in the collection of the Mildmay family and according to family tradition hung in their London house in Stoke Newington. Design The unusual shape of this mirror recurs with certain mirror plates on desk and bookcases of the mid-1740s. These were probably inspired by earlier forms, like this example, and are often thought to be the work of the cabinet-maker Giles Grendey (1693-1780). The style of the decorative carving is close to the work of Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), though it does not have Gibbons' naturalistic fluency. Materials & Making The survival of the original oil gilded finish is remarkable. The gold has been applied to the carved surface over a paint ground. In the border between the inner and outer mouldings, sand has been mixed with the paint to provide a granular surface which forms a contrast with the smooth gold on the carved surfaces. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | 27/5405 - RF number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.44:1 to 4-1927 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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