436 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



November, 19 lo 



Fig. 2 — Eighteenth century mirror 



in two parts: walnut frame 



with gilt ornamentation 



two pieces, the larger one 

 at the base and the smaller 

 one, forming a sort of 

 panel, at the top. The upper 

 panel was finished with a 

 dull surface, and figures 

 and patterns were cut in 

 the back of the glass, pro- 

 ducing an effect like that 

 of embossed work or gem- 

 cutting. Sometimes two or 

 three plates were framed 

 together and the joints 

 hidden by bands of gilded 

 wood, or metal, like the 

 outside frame, or by strips 

 of colored glass. 



The great carver. Grin- 

 ling Gibbons, made a num- 

 ber of exquisite mirror- 

 frames with beautifully exe- 

 cuted flowers and fruits; 

 but the richly carved frame 

 of his style soon changed 

 for that of Louis XIV. 

 French mirrors were now 

 imported into England and 

 many refugee Hugenot 

 workmen made frames in England after the style of the 

 F>ench court and the great decorator of the age, Marot. 

 Instead of the great wreath of flowers and fruit, the decora- 

 tive motives were heavy garlands of the bell-flower, the mas- 

 caron, the scroll and the urn. A "Queen Anne mirror," 

 oblong in shape with elegantly carved gilt frame, the design 

 being foliage and gadrooning, was, not long ago, sold in 

 London for £26; and a mirror of the William III period in 

 English marquetry frame, with flowers and foliage beauti- 

 fully inlaid in colored woods and ivory on a walnut ground, 

 £43. A pair of oval mirrors by the Adam brothers, on 

 the other hand, in carved and gilt frame, brought £46. 

 Chippendale, being a carver, naturally delighted in de- 

 signing frames for pictures and mirrors. In his day the 

 tall pier-glasses between the windows were as important 

 as the mantel-glass, and were frequently carved to corre- 

 spond. Moreover, the girandoles that carried the side- 

 lights for the drawing- 

 room and dining-room 

 and which were hung 

 on either side of the 

 mantel-piece, were also 

 furnished with a look- 

 ing-glass, not only for 

 ornament, but for the 

 purpose of reflecting 

 the lights of the can- 

 dles and rendering the 

 room more brilliant. 

 Chippendale's frames 

 naturally show him 

 when he is perhaps in 

 his most characteristic 

 moods. They bristle 

 with spiky leaves in 

 which long-tailed, 

 long-beaked birds peck 

 at scrolls, leaves, ici- 

 cles, and sometimes 

 squawk at little man- 

 darins standing under 

 pagodas. Subjects 

 from mythology and 

 .^sop's Fables are 



Fig. 3 — Looking-glass with walnut 



and gilt frame dating from the 



eighteenth century 



Fig. 4 — Oval mirror of the Heppel- 

 white period 



blended with Chinese mo- 

 tives or the fantastic scroll 

 and leaf-work of the Louis 

 XV style which Chippen- 

 dale used so beautifully. 

 He was very clever — as 

 clever as the French de- 

 signers — in making the 

 sconce-arms emerge from 

 the leaves or scrolls in nat- 

 ural and graceful sweeps. 



The Chippendale mir- 

 rors are frequently in sev- 

 eral divisions; but the 

 union of the separate 

 plates is always hidden 

 under the foliage or the 

 rock and shell work. Chip- 

 pendale mirrors now bring 

 enormous prices. Within 

 the past five years the fol- 

 lowing sums have been 

 realized in London: 



A Chippendale gilt mir- 

 ror with three lights, 5 

 feet, 6 inches high, and z) 

 feet wide scroll frame with 

 floral borders, £89; a pair 



of Chippendale girandole mirrors, 4 feet, 5 inches high, i 

 foot, 5 inches wide; gilt and carved in Gothic design, £27; 

 a pair of Chippendale mirrors, 8 feet long, 3 feet, 6 inches 

 wide, with Vauxhall plates in two divisions; scroll and 

 floral carved frame, surmounted with masks, £79; a Chip- 

 pendale mirror, carved and gilt, 7 feet, 4 inches long, 4 

 feet, 2 inches wide, 90 guineas; a Chippendale bevel-edged 

 mirror, 7 feet high, 3 feet wide, upright black frame, with 

 festoons of flowers, foliage, rosettes, acorns and arabesques 

 in relief, 38 guineas. 



The mirrors designed by the Adam brothers are light, 

 graceful and charming, and those by Heppelwhite are no 

 less so. Of girandoles with sconce-arms the latter said 

 that "they admitted of great variety in pattern and ele- 

 gance" and are "usually executed of the best carved work — 

 gilt and burnished in parts. They may be carved and col- 

 ored suitable to the room." Heppelwhite was fond of the 

 oval mirror with 

 the light falling bell- 

 flower used as a fes- 

 toon, often looped 

 from a little bracket 

 on which stood a 

 small urn. Pier- 

 glass frames were 

 usually square, of 

 good carved work, 

 gilt and burnished. 

 Heppelwhite says 

 that "they should 

 be made nearly to 

 fill the pier. They 

 must be fixed very 

 low, and the panels 

 of the sides are fre- 

 quently made of va- 

 rious colored glass," 

 the pier-table also 

 had to fit the pier 

 and "nearly touch- 

 ing the ornaments 

 of the glass." 



As far as this last pjg 5 — Qval mirror transitional from 



instruction is con- Chippendale to Heppelwhite 



