A pair of Italian carved giltwood mirrors, Tuscan, in the manner of Lorenzo Dolci circa 1780 A very fine pair of Italian carved giltwood mirrors, Tuscan circa 1795

each with a cresting centred by a vase of flowers terminating in acanthus leaves and stylised Greek-key motif, above a panel carved with piastres flanked by female griffins terminating in scrolling foliage above a frieze carved with egg-and-dart motif and with husk carved swags on a blue painted ground with a patera carved at each corner, the sides profusely carved with scrolling foliage and flowers, the divided rectangular plates with mirrored borders supporting receptacles for candlearms (now missing), the lower section flanked by scrolling foliage on acanthus leaf-carved feet hung with flower garlands, the apron centred by serpents enclosing a view of a tree lined avenue flanked by grotesque masks; a section of cornice missing as visible from the photograph

Sold in these Rooms, lot 190, 10th June 1999.

Enrico Colle, Il mobile neoclassico in Italia, arredi e decorazioni d'interni dal dal 1775 al 1800,  Milan, 2005, pp. 200, illustrated

Comparative Literature:
E. Colle, Il Mobili di Palazzo Pitti, Il primo period lorenese 1737-1799, Florence, 1992, p. 158, plate 92.
Enrico Colle, Il mobile neoclassico in Italia, arredi e decorazioni d'interni dal dal 1775 al 1800,  Milan, 2005, pp.200-202.

Colle, op. cit., p. 201, Il mobile neoclassico, illustrates one of the offered impressive mirrors, when discussing a related mirror by Lorenzo Dolci, circa 1798, with a medallion depicting Ceasar, now in the Camera del re, Quartiere d'Inverno, Palazzo Pitti, Florence. The carving as on the present mirrors is of superlative quality, and it has similar griffins with well defined torsos and wings on the cresting, blue painted frieze and exquisitely carved floral trails down the sides and scrolling foliage enclosing flowerheads. It is also worthwhile mentioning the overdoor carved by Lorenzo Dolci in 1792 for the "Sala delle Eroine Bibliche" in the Poggio Imperiale Villa, where sphinxes and gryphons are perfectly combined with the painted grotesques by Matteo Rosselli and members of his workshop, illustrated again by Colle, op. cit., p. 202.