Louis Philippe Gilt and Gesso Overmantel Mirror
Louis Philippe Giltwood Overmantel Mirror
The rectangular plate with rounded upper corners is set within a stepped, cushion-moulded frame. The frame rises from a flat outer border to a broad ogee cavetto and a raised torus, and it finishes with an inner beaded slip of pearl-bead ornament enclosing the original bevelled mercury plate. The gilding is worn throughout to reveal the red bole ground, which is especially visible along the outer edges and lower rail.
French, mid 19th Century
The Louis Philippe mirror is among the most characteristic forms of the July Monarchy (1830–1848) and the early Second Empire. Its softly rounded shoulders and restrained moulded profile were a deliberate departure from the carved exuberance of the Restauration and Rococo Revival. Mirrors of this type were produced in considerable numbers in Paris and the provinces for the chimneypieces of bourgeois interiors, typically made in pine with applied gesso ornament and water gilding over a red or ochre bole. The inner beaded slip seen here is a refinement found on better examples. The survival of the original plate, with its characteristic soft, smoky reflection, adds considerably to the mirror's appeal.
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