An important George III giltwood frame with Chinese Export reverse-painted mirror painting the frame circa 1775, the mirror painting Qing Dynasty, Qinglong periord, circa 1765

The associated mirror painting depicting a riverscape with a shepherdess seated on a rocky outcrop, her flock in the foreground, a basket of flowers at her side, a falconer to her left standing between two flowering trees, the river with sailing boats, the riverbanks with pavilions, mountains in the background and a mirrored sky, within a guilloche-carved rectangular frame surmounted by the figure of a standing owl with outspread wings, one talon on a book, flanked by a caduceus and a trumpet, all on a scrolled stand flanked by scrolls and laurel leaf swags, the pierced scroll-carved sides with laurel swags, the pierced apron centered by a lyre within a laurel crown and flanked by acanthus-carved scrolls.  Frame re-gilt.

The frame: Probably supplied to Lady Charlotte Lee, Viscountess Dillon for Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire

Almost certainly purchased by Ronald and Nancy Tree

Mallett, London

 

Mirror: Sold, Christie's, London, June 25, 1981, lot 16

The Connoisseur, Mallett, March 1982, p. 33

frame later gilded and in very good restored condition with some repaired breaks at the back and some replacements to leaf tips and some carved elements; the horn to the cresting is possibly replaced; loss to leaf tip of upper right side; the mirror painting is beautifully painted; upper left corner with Chinese characters; losses to silver of background especially to upper left corner and to center top edge and to the left of the tree; seated female figure with losses to silvering to either side of her head; pitting and losses to water, upper right corner with pitting and small losses to silvering and to right edge, right of standing male figure; oxidation throughout; losses to silvering of water next to painted banks of bottom right edge.
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.

A fascinating feature of the present mirror is the faint Chinese characters seen in the upper left corner.  Although they are difficult to read, they could possibly be partially translated to property of . . .

Described as 'back painting' by eighteenth century writers, this unusual art was practiced throughout Europe in the late 17th century and 18th centuries, the true technique having probably introduced to the West by Jesuit missionaries from China. The work produced by the usually anonymous Chinese artists was, however, far more brilliantly executed by them than their Western counterparts. According to the diaries of Elie de Beaumont written in 1764, it appears that silvered mirror glass was exported from England, decorated, and returned. Breton de la Martinière noted in China, its costumes, arts, etc., translated in 1813 that Canton had the only glass house in the Empire, declaring that `Looking glasses and glass mirrors have been manufactured there, quicksilvered in the European manner, but this undertaking has not proved successful'. The paintings were created by first drawing the design on the silvered surface, and then scraping away the areas that were to be decorated. These were then decorated in reverse with oil paint or dry pigment mixed with a gum. The paintings were produced in both Peking and Canton, although the latter is probably the original source for most of those made purely for export. Certainly, the vistas of the Pearl River seem to have provided much of the inspiration for many of the subjects. Many were re-framed in England with carved giltwood frames in the rococo taste, one of the more notable ones, formerly at Harewood House, being designed by Robert Adam in the neo-classical taste and made by Thomas Chippendale.  Others at Saltram House were hung on Chinese wallpaper, and the Royal architect William Chambers describes in The plans, elevations of the Gardens and Buildings at Kew, 1763, 'four large painted looking glasses from China' in the Gallery.

The scene of the shepherdess and falconer appears to have been popular, with known examples (with variations), including an example sold, Christie's, London, June 19, 1980, lot 102, another in the Gerstenfeld Collection, illustrated, E. Lennox-Boyd, ed., Masterpieces of English Furniture  The Gerstenfeld Collection, 1998, p. 65, pl. 49; one at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Merseyside, Handbook, 1996, p. 93; another, sold, Christie's, London, November 28, 2002, lot 80.

See:

Margaret Jourdain and R. Soame Jenyns, Chinese Export Art, London, 1950, Chapter 3, pp. 32-39

Ditchley Park was designed by James Gibbs in 1720 for George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield.  The building was overseen by a number of architects including Francis Smith who designed Stoneleigh Abbey for Lord Leigh, 1714-26, and  later by Henry Flitcroft who rebuilt Woburn Abbey for the Duke of Bedford from 1747-61.  In 1776, Ditchley was inherited by Lady Charlotte Lee, daughter of the 2^nd Earl of Lichfield after the death of her uncle, the 4^th Earl.  Lady Charlotte married Henry Dillon, 11^th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallin in 1774, while the interiors of  Ditchley were being completed.  In many respects, Ditchley was an amalgam of different designs and designers, each bringing his own taste and vision to the house.  See Andor Gomme, 'Architects and Craftsman at Ditchley', Architectural History, 1989, vol. 32, pp. 85-104.

The present frame is part of a group of frames from Ditchley Park, including another  with an associated Chinese reverse painted mirror sold at Christie's, London, The Dr. Norman Gay Collection,  June 28, 1984, lot 9.  Another was sold, Christie's, New York, October 17, 1992, lot 126, originally in the collection of Ronald and Nancy Tree, who bought Ditchley in 1933 and now in the Gerstenfeld Collection; see E. Lennox-Boyd, ed., Masterpieces of English Furniture The Gerstenfeld Collection, London, 1998, p. 234, fig. 84, where the frames are described as probably being commissioned by Lady Charlotte Lee and her husband Henry Dillon, 11^th Viscount.

During the 1740s, Henry Flitcroft was at Ditchley overseeing the fitting of rooms, including the stuccoing, plasterwork and other architectural elements.  He was simultaneously working at Woburn Abbey, and had worked with William and John Linnell at that house, and eventually at Badminton House, commissioned by the 4^th Duke of Beaufort.  John Cornforth suggests that the Linnells had probably supplied the group of giltwood rococo wall elements found in the Tapestry Room at Ditchley in the 1750s.   This group of rococo wall elements was most recently sold at Christie's, London, Dealing in Excellence, A Celebration of Hotspur & Jeremy, November 20, 2008, lot 130.  It is also interesting to note that the both the 3^rd Duke of Beaufort was one of the architects of the 1745 Jacobite rising and the Dillons, being mostly Irish and French, had been sympathetic to the Jacobite cause; see John Cornforth, 'Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire – II', Country Life, November 24, 1988, p. 85.

The present frame together with the other two mentioned above were possibly made by John Linnell.  Firstly, it probable that William and John Linnell were working at Ditchley in the 1750s.  Secondly, it is interesting to look at Linnell's corpus of works, in which there are a number of designs which relates to the present frame; see Helena Hayward, 'The Drawings of John Linnell in the Victoria and Albert Museum', The Journal of the Furniture History Society, vol. V, 1969.  Specific elements on the present frame such as the lyre within a laurel wreath of the apron appears in a drawing for a girandole by Linnell, circa 1760-65, op. cit., fig 81.  The overall foliate S-scrolled sides and cresting are almost identical to a drawing of a pier mirror, circa 1774, op. cit., fig. 97, which has very similar proportions and overall composition.  Other drawings which are similar include a long mirror frame, circa 1771, op. cit., fig. 96, and another mirror frame, circa 1773, illustrated, op. cit. fig. 89.

The frame incorporates a number of classical allegorical elements, whose combination points to a specific theme, possibly that of Mount Parnassus.  The owl perched on a stack of books is one of the attributes of the goddess Minerva, who personifies wisdom.  The caduceus or the staff entwined by a pair of snakes is the attribute of the god Mercury, who personifies eloquence, reason, and teaching, among other things.  In classical mythology, he is said to have given the lyre, which is found on the apron of the frame, to Apollo, who personifies poetry and deep learning.  Laurel trees grow on Mount Parnassus and the laurel crown, another attribute of Apollo, represents literature and the arts.  The trumpet is often an attribute of fame, but in this instance it is probably an attribute of two Muses, Clio (history) and Euterpe (lyric poetry and music).  Apollo is attended by the Muses on Mount Parnassus, sometimes together with Mercury and Minerva.  The most famous depictions of Parnassus were painted by Raphael for the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican Palace, and Mantegna for the studiolo of Isabella d'Este, wife of Francesco Gonzaga, in the Castello di S Giorgio.  During the 17^th century Nicholas Poussin painted works on this theme and in 1761, Anton Raphael Mengs, with the consultation of the antiquarian J. J. Winckelmann, painted a fresco of Mount Parnassus at the Villa Albani in Rome, which would have been seen by the majority of the English Grand Tourists in the last quarter of the 18^th century.

Ditchley was bought in 1933 by the Anglo-American couple, Ronald (1897-1976) and Nancy Tree (1897-1994), who bought much of the original contents of the house from the estate of the 17^th Viscount Dillon.  The niece of the politician Nancy Astor, Nancy Tree, née Perkins, of Mirador, Greenwood, Virginia,  was first married in 1917 to the Marshall Field department store heir, Henry Field, who died five months later.   She then married Tree who became a Conservative Party MP.  Her redecoration of Ditchley earned her the reputation of having 'the finest taste of almost anyone in the world.'  She divorced Tree in 1947 and married Colonel Claude Lancaster, from whom she and Ronald Tree had leased Kelmarsh Hall years earlier, a house thought to have been her favorite.  The Lancasters divorced in 1953 and she moved to Haseley Court, Oxfordshire, which she decorated with John Fowler, of Colefax and Fowler, her business partner, and with whom she also decorated the iconic 'Yellow Drawing Room' at 22 Avery Row, London (see lot 118, the pair of wall lights, which came from the Yellow Drawing Room and are photographed in situ, J. Cornforth, The Inspiration of the Past, 1985, col. pl. XVI).