Decorative Items and Mirrors
Decorative items form an integral part of 21st Century interior design and cover
a wide range of taste.
Take for example furniture made by Maitland Smith, such as the tortoiseshell
veneered and brass inlaid writing table sold in July 2014 (FS23/781). It is
based on a traditional design but with a very contemporary feel to it.
A Stylish Contemporary Tortoiseshell Veneered and Brass Inlaid Writing Table (FS23/781)
made by Maitland Smith.
Chinoiserie decorated furniture is always sought after at auction and recent successes
have been a red lacquer and chinoiserie decorated breakfast table (FS23/770), Chinese
coromandel lacquer screens (FS23/772) and occasional furniture decorated in red,
black or green lacquer with chinoiserie designs, generally of pagodas and lake and
mountain scenes.
Equally a decorative item could be a Bavarian carved lindenwood hall stand in the
form of a bear (FS24/855). Such furniture is extremely popular and the bear is widely
used as a single object or otherwise incorporated into items of furniture. Of greater
rarity is the camel and an example of this was recently sold by Bearnes Hampton
& Littlewood, as a table on a camel support.
An Irish Shell Cabinet (FS21/914) made by Elizabeth Penrose circa 1800 and decorated
with glass animals from the Waterford Glass Factory.
One of the most interesting decorative items sold by this auction house was an Irish
shell cabinet made by Elizabeth Penrose in about 1800 (FS21/914). It was
formed as a fantasy grotto and constructed from shells gathered around Tramore and
along the tidal reaches of the River Suir in Ireland. Incorporated within the grotto
are glass animals and swans from the Waterford glass factory. It was sold to an
Irish museum.
Vintage luggage from the Louis Vuitton manufacture is included within interior
design and examples of Louis Vuitton trunks are regularly sold for four figure sums.
A rare pair of Regency carved giltwood and Chinese reverse painted convex mirrors
(FS20/1150) sold for £17,500 in October 2013.
Mirrors form an important part of interior design and two of the best examples were
recently sold by Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood, being a rare pair of Regency
carved giltwood and Chinese reverse painted convex mirrors (FS20/1150). Each surmounted
by a figure of an eagle, they sold for £17,500 in October 2013.
Good examples of 18th Century mirrors are to be found by Thomas Chippendale
and a particularly fine one is to be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
This example of a girandole mirror is identical to a design in Chippendale's The
Gentleman and Cabinet Makers Directory published in 1762.
Other popular mirrors include Florentine carved giltwood mirrors with bold acanthus
decorated frames, Irish mirrors with jewelled surrounds on ebonised grounds and
Venetian marginal mirrors.
The use of the Ho-ho bird as a device was widely used on 18th Century mirrors.
The Ho-ho bird takes its origin from Fenghuang, a mythological bird of
East Asia commonly known as the Chinese phoenix.
The Ho-ho bird has very high connotations being a symbol of virtue and grace.
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