Part of the journal written by John Thornton, dated 1742
Lerchenborg Castle, Denmark
The two matching larger mirrors at Lerchenborg Castle
THE LERCHENBORG CASTLE MIRRORS, English, circa 1730
Width: 25 in; 63.5 cm
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A pair of George II giltwood border glass mirrors attributed to Giles Grendey.
Note: The mirrors retain some of their original gilding. One of the shaped centre plates is an 18th century replacement. Each mirror retains an inventory inscription on the reverse, reading ‘L No. 19’. L stands for Lerchenborg Castle, and No. 19 indicates the location of the mirror within the castle.
Lerchenborg Castle in Denmark was built by Carl Ahlfeld in 1704. The estate belonged to Robert Thornton between 1729 and 1742, and the mirrors were probably installed during this time. Two matching and far larger mirrors remain at Lerchenborg as part of the original suite.
Robert Thornton was a director of the Bank of England and a wealthy cloth merchant who owned the Clapham estate. On his death in 1742 his fortune, valued at around £100,000 (equivalent to at least £28 million today) passed to his son John. John’s frequent travels on occasion took him as far as Russia, when Lerchenborg Castle would have been a convenient stopping point. A journal by John Thornton, dated 1742 and describing his travels from Riga through Germany and Italy to England, was sold at Dominic Winter Auctions in Cirencester, England, in 2019.
John Thornton was known for his philanthropy in Germany and Denmark as well as in England. When he died in 1790 he was described as the richest person in Europe.
Provenance
Robert Thornton, for Lerchenborg Castle, Denmark;
By descent to;
Christian Lerche, Lerchenborg Castle;
Amalie Margrethe Christiane Caroline Leiningen-Westerburg née Lerche, Lerchenborg Castle;
Georg Flemming Lerche, Lerchenborg Castle;
Christian Cornelius Lerche-Lerchenborg, Lerchenborg Castle;
Christian Albrecht Lerche, Lerchenborg Castle;
Christian Cornelius Lubbi Lerche-Lerchenborg;
J. Bruhn, Lerchenborg Castle;
Private collection, England;
Ronald Phillips Ltd., London, England;
Private collection, USA.
