Hyde Park Antiques, ltd.
Sold at the Winter Antiques Show, New York City, January 2001
A George II Giltwood and Chinese Reverse-Painted Overmantel Mirror
Attributed to William
and John Linnell, circa 1775
Height 63I" Width 65"
Courtesy of Hyde Park Antiques, Ltd.
Designed in the Chinese rococo style that was popularized in Thomas Chippendale’s The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, first published in 1754, this mirror combines naturalistic elements such as rockwork and vines with the contemporary fashion for all things Chinese.
William and John Linnell of Berkeley Square was one of the first firms to incorporate the chinoiserie style into their work. Their suite of furniture supplied to the Duke of Beaufort (d. 1756) for the Chinese Bedroom at Badminton House, Gloustershire, originally included a related pagoda-capped overmantel with a seated Chinese “pagode” [sic] figure. The Linnells’ designs, now conserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, feature more examples of the same large-scale figures holding parasols and pagoda crestings.
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