Lot 139: A GEORGE II STYLE GILTWOOD PIER MIRROR AFTER A DESIGN BY THOMAS JOHNSON CIRCA 1840

measurements height 9 ft. 4 in.; width 6 ft. 6 in. alternate measurements 284.5 cm; 198 cm

PROPERTY OF VARIOUS OWNERS
Made shortly after the time of the first Chippendale revival in the 1830s, this pier mirror is an almost exact copy of a design from Thomas Johnson's Collection of Designs, 1758, pl. 6, reissued in One Hundred and Fifty New Designs, 1761, pl. 21. This revival was encouraged by the publisher John Weale of the 'Library of Architecture and Science', 59 High Holborn, London, who had obtained a number of the original copper printing plates used in the publication of such 18υth century pattern books as Matthias Lock's Six Sconces, and Thomas Johnson's One Hundred and Fifty Designs, although notably not Chippendale's Director. Between 1833 and 1858 these were issued under various titles, the first of circa 1833 being A Collection of Ornamental Designs applicable to Furniture, Frames & the Decoration of Rooms, in the Style of Louis 14υth on 24 plates chiefly after Thomas Chippendale. In all volumes the original authors such as Lock and Johnson's names were erased and Chippendale's name substituted. It is interesting to note that some fifty years after his death Chippendale's reputation was such that it was obviously commercially advantageous to substitute his name. The carver Thomas Johnson, Soho, London, published several books of rococo ornamental designs in the mid 18υth century: Twelve Girandoles 1755, Collection of Designs, 1758, One Hundred and Fifty New Designs, 1761 and A New Book of Ornaments, 1761. He was described as 'Carver, Teacher of Drawings and Modelling and Author of a Book of Designs for Chimney Pieces and other ornaments, and of several other pieces' in Mortimer's Universal Director, 1763.