Lot 159: A GEORGE III GILT CARTON PIERRE OVAL MIRROR

A GEORGE III GILT CARTON PIERRE OVAL MIRROR CIRCA 1775 the oval mirror with gadrooned frame surmounted by a pierced cresting with an urn and husk swags, with a pierced apron. Repairs. height 6ft. 5in.; width 42in. (1.96m.; 1.07m.) This fine neo-classical mirror is unusual in being constructed from carton-pierre. A technique often associated with the later London-based picture frame makers George Jackson & Sons, it was first introduced by the Parisian J. Miziere. A paper-based technique like papier mache, it involved the reduction of paper pulp to a fine consistency before binding it with glue and whiting. The substance was then rolled out and pressed into molds to produce a light weight molding that would often be filled with dry plaster or sawdust. Related designs for the Adam-inspired 'Glass frames'similarly surmounted by a neo-classical urn amid acanthus scrolls, and husks linking cresting and apron were published by the enigmatic designer, Pastorini, in A New Book of Designs for Girandoles and Glass Frames in 1775 (illustrated Elizabeth White, Pictorial Dictionary of British 18th Century Furniture Design,1990, p. 347). Similar designs were also executed by Linnell, drawings for which are preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated Helena Hayward and Patricia Kirkham, William and John Linnell, 1980, vol. II, especially for a design with urn crestings and similar husk pendants, p. 101, fig. 195; see also related designs, p. 102, figs. 196-8.