AN IMPORTANT PAIR OF GEORGE II CARVED GILT WOOD PIER MIRRORS circa 1755

each with an upright rectangular mirror plate flanked by architectural columns on rockwork supporting gnarled trees with foliate branches, bordered with mirror plates with long conjoined C-scrolles centered with leafy branches, the shaped mirrored crest centered by a Gothic pavilion with free-standing turned columns before architectural columns on a shaped platform with ruffled ornament above C-scrolls, the other columns of gothic design and supporting a pagoda canopy, the outer corner with foliate C-scrolls supporting sprays of flowers, leaves and fruit, the platform similarly ornamented with conjoined C-scrolls with foliate and ruffled ornament. 

Each with a trade label a printed paper trade label Lang & Co. Carvers and Gilders to her Majesty the Queen Dowager...London.  Re-gilt.

Christie's, New York, April 13, 2000, lot 146, Property from a Private Collection

In very good restored condition, now with some small losses to the leaf tips overall and recent cracks following lines of construction which require attention. Examination of the mirrors from the backs shows a number of old repairs and replacements to the extremities of the carvings which were probably done in the mid-19th century by Lang & Company when their label was attached. The center plates have been replaced as have some of the border plates.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Although a precise design for these exceptional mirrors, with their Chinese pagoda crestings supported on gothic pillared temples, the side columns entwined with rustic branches,  is not recorded, they owe their inspiration to a number of mid 18^th century pattern books. These included a number of plates in A New Book of Ornaments, by Matthias Lock and Henry Copeland, published in 1752 and re-issued by Sayer in 1768, Thomas Johnsons's Collection of Designs, 1758, and One Hundred and Fifty New Designs, 1761, and William Ince and John Mayhew's The Universal System of Household Furniture, 1762.

Lang & Company were presumably a mid 19^th century firm of carvers and gilders who probably repaired the mirrors, at this time; certainly, the un-gilded backs of the carved elements show evidence of later, but not recent, repairs and replacements.

Her Majesty the Queen Dowager noted on the label is probably Adelaide, Queen Consort of  King William IV (d. 1838). Born Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Thuringia, Germany, in 1792, she married, 1818, Prince William, Duke of Clarence, who succeeded as William IV in 1830. She died in 1849.