Pier glass
Category
Furniture
Date
1750 - 1760
Materials
Giltwood (probably deal), gesso, mirrored glass, paint
Measurements
320 x 146 x 20 cm
Place of origin
Turin
Order this imageCollection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 850051.2
Summary
A pier mirror from a pair of giltwood and Adnet marble console tables and pier mirrors, Northern Italian, Turin, circa 1755 With a moulded cornice and cartouche with an inset painted panel of figures in a landscape, the cartouche frame carved with scrolling foliage and rocaille decoration surmounted by pierced and carved floral vase and garland, the mirror panel below within a multi layered moulded frame carved with repeating detail. The corners carved with further scroll work and with a floral spray to the center.
Full description
These tables and mirrors were almost certainly bought in Italy by the Earl Bishop when he was appointed British Minister in Turin (1755-8) The elegant and finely carved giltwood console tables and pier mirrors are consistent with other mid-18th Turinese pieces. The high-hipped legs carved with rocaille relates them to examples in the Palazzo Reale, Turin. There is a similar pair in the Ickworth collection NT850066 which also were almost certainly bought in Turin by the Earl Bishop. See Viale, Mostra del Palazzo Piemontese, Vol 3, pl.60, fig. b and pl.66, fig.b.) (James Weedon 2017)
Provenance
Part of the Bristol Collection. Acquired by the National Trust in 1956 under the auspices of the National Land Fund, later the National Heritage Memorial Fund. It would seem very likely that the tables and mirrors were bought by the Earl Bishop while in Turin circa 1755
References
Viale, Mostra del Palazzo Piemontese, Vol 3, pl.60, fig. b and pl.66, fig.b