An important pair of George II giltwood pier mirrors attributed to Matthias Lock circa 1750

each cartouche pierced crest surmounted by a floral garland above a pair of C-scrolls centering pendant bellflowers, the shoulders with fully realized carved chinoiserie heads, each with feathered hat, the plate divided by a floral garland, the inner frame surrounded by acanthus-leaf-carved C-scrolls, the outer sides hung with floral sprays and entwined garlands, the apron centering a cartouche divided by further garland amidst Rococo scrolls.

Almost certainly supplied to Robert Trevor, 4th Baron Trevor and 1st Viscount Hampden, Hampden House, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire
Thence by descent to John Hampden Mercer-Henderson, 8th Earl of Buckingham
Sold from Hampden House through Curtis & Henson, Hamnett Raffety & Co, 17th-22nd, April 1939, lots 1155-1156

J. Botibol (c. 1950)

James V. Rank

Sold by Mrs. James V. Rank, Sotheby's, London, 11th July, 1952, lot 128

G. Jetley

James A. Lewis (c. 1965)

The Moller Collection, Sotheby's London, November 18, 1993, lot 87

R. W. Symonds, Masterpieces of English Furniture and Clocks, 1940, p. 32
R. W. Symonds, 'English Looking-Glasses', The Conoisseur, vol CXXV (1950), p.84, fig.XV
Geoffrey Wills, English Looking Glasses, 1965, p.89, pl.67

Regilt. Good overall condition. Gilding with some rubbing and wear; some chips and losses to gesso not extensive; some age cracks and a few restored breaks to carving; one female figure's face with age cracks. Mirror plates later and now with a few areas of foxing. One plate to far left section of border glass with hazing; other mirror with one border glass piece with two breaks.
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.

Matthias Lock's designs from the period were the first in the full Rococo manner of importance and originality to be published in England. With his collaborator, H. Copland, Lock 'took up the [Rococo] style with extraordinary aptitude and handled it with the greatest facility and freedom.' He had found a vehicle for his great fluency and very English love of naturalistic ornament. Not only a designer, but a master carver as well, Lock worked with Thomas Chippendale in the middle years of the 18th century and it is clear that the two craftsmen were equally accomplished masters of the Rococo idiom in the branch of decorative woodcarving. Although the fashion for Chinoiserie was not new, the Rococo impulses relaxed the previously formal conventions which had restricted the application of such designs to surface decoration (usually lacquered or japanned pieces). Familiar Chinese features such as pagoda crestings, lattice-work or frets were not incorporated as elements of structural design until around 1750. Hence, these mirrors with their pair of heads in the Chinese taste are important as early examples of a style soon to be popularized by design books in the ensuing period.
A drawing held by the Victoria & Albert Museum by Matthias Lock, and from about 1760, illustrates a strikingly similar mirror. The refinement of design and the exquisite carving of the heads indicate that Lock, the preeminent wood carver of the period, may well have been responsible for their execution.
A similar pair of giltwood mirrors attributed to Matthias Lock were sold by Sotheby's London, Lot 87, November 18, 1993, from the Moller collection. A second similar pair attributed to Lock were sold by Christie's New York, lot 114 May 17, 2012 for $464,500.

Hampden House has a long history, the Hampdens having first begun building in the 1350s ultimately adding and ‘improving’ the house through the 1760s.  Interestingly the house was never fully demolished, but continually updated over the course of four centuries.  The family sent many of their sons to Oxford to be educated, John Hampden VI having attended Magdalen College 1609-12 who then became the famous Parliamentarian during the civil wars.  Another Hampden: Robert (who may have commissioned these mirrors) attended Queens College in the 1720s and became a Fellow of All Souls College where he may have met Hawksmoor who was rebuilding the large Gothic North Quadrangle.  Richard Hampden, the great grandson of John VI began major building works in the 1720s which were then continued by his brother John VIII until his death in 1754 where upon the aforementioned Robert inherited the title and estate and completed the works.  Robert was the ambassador to The Hague during this period and was made 1^st Viscount Hampden in 1776.   The house is interesting in that the exterior is a mid-18^th century historicist view of mediaeval and gothic architecture predating Horace Walpole’s gothic Strawberry Hill by twenty years.  Many of the windows have pointed and ogee arches and the walls have crenellations whilst the interior decoration is a mixture of classical and ‘Jacobean’ styles.  The London architect and builder Edward Shephard (best known for Shepherd Market Mayfair) was paid for supervising the building works from 1743-5 and was probably designed the richly classical detail of the fireplaces and extraordinary plasterwork.