One of the mirrors in situ at Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire. Courtesy of Christie’s
A comparable mirror at Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire, in 1919. Courtesy of Country Life Picture Archive
THE NOSTELL PRIORY PIER MIRRORS, English, circa 1730
Width: 2 ft 9 in; 84 cm
Depth: 8 ¾ in; 22 cm
Further images
A pair of George II giltwood mirrors attributed to Isaac Odell.
Note: The mirrors retain virtually all the original gilding. One of the bevelled mirror plates is an 18th century replacement. The candle arm sockets are original, while the brass arms are of later date.
A comparable mirror almost certainly by Isaac Odell is recorded at Chicheley, Buckinghamshire. The carved plumed head on lambrequin support and the acanthus scroll carvings to the corners are identical to the Chicheley Mirror and strongly support the attribution to Odell.
A further mirror featuring an identical plumed head on a lambrequin support was recorded by Country Life in the collection of the Dukes of Hamilton at Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire, shortly before the collection was dispersed in 1919.
Provenance
Nostell Priory, Yorkshire.Literature
R. W. Symonds, 'English looking glasses', Connoisseur, June 1950, pp. 82-7, illus. XII
Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, London 1986, p. 661.
Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture 1715-1740, London, 2009, p.296.
