A pair of Italian giltwood a mecca and polychrome lacquered trumeau mirrors, Sicilian, Palermo, circa 1770

of rectangular outline with moulded cresting above an arched central plate flanked by mirrored borders, the central cartouche painted with a scenes of disporting putti and flanked by two further mirror plates, decorated overall with finely carved, polychrome floral garlands, scrolls, acanthus and rocaille

Princes Lanza di Trabia, Palazzo Butera, Palermo

These mirrors of exceptional scale are in reasonable original condition. One with four border panels cracked, and losses to the mirrored surface, as well as retouching, also to the polychrome carvings. The other with one border panel cracked, and the upper right corner panel probably replaced. Minor losses and scratches to the gilding of both.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Enrico Colle, Il Mobile Rococò in Italia, Milan, 2003, p. 35.
Maurizio Giarrizzo and Aldo Rotolo, Mobile e Mobilieri nella Sicilia del Settecento, Palermo, 1992, p. 105, fig. 57 and the cover.
G. L. Tomasi and A. Zalapì, Palaces of Sicily, New York, 1998, p.196-97.

The exuberant virtuoso carving on these magnificent monumental mirrors represents an archetypal representation of the High Rococo in Sicily, where this international style arguably attained its richest fruition. Sicilian mirrors of this form, rectilinear in shape with moulded cornices and borders were designed to integrate with the ceiling and wall mouldings and elaborately decorated with asymmetrical arranged scrolls and painted panels and were typically found in large salons in palazzi and noble residences throughout Sicily and particularly in the capital Palermo. 

One of the  most celebrated examples of a surviving interior with this type of mirror in its original setting is the Galleria degli Specchi (Hall of Mirrors) in the Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi, completed in 1757-58, and immortalised as the location used in Luchino Visconti’s 1963 screen adaptation of Di Lampedusa’s celebrated novel The Leopard, illustrated by Colle, op. cit., p. 35 and Maurizio Giarrizzo and Aldo Rotolo, op. cit., on the cover and p. 105, plate 57.

The offered pair of mirrors originally hung in the Palazzo Butera, a Palermo palace dating to the 17^th century with a terrace overlooking the Gulf of Palermo that was admired by the German poet and writer Goethe. The interiors were severely damaged by fire in 1759 and subsequently redecorated in the following decades. A pair of related mirrors were supplied to the palace’s Salone Rosso in around 1765 by the carver Girolamo Carretti and the gilder Francesco Guicciardi (or Licciardi), (see Colle, op. cit., p. 54-55) and the present pair is likely to have come from the same workshop. 

Other contemporary mirrors with similar applied trailing floral garlands are in Palazzo Comitini, Palermo, now the seat of the regional government, illustrated by Tomasi and Zalapì, op. cit., p. 196-97, and in the Palazzo Biscardi, Catania, in a ballroom frescoed in around 1771 by Matteo Desiderato and Sebastiano Lo Monaco (see Tomasi and Zalapì, op. cit., p. 186-87). Large trumeaux such as the offered pair were designed to hang above elaborately carved and gilt console tables, see Colle, op. cit., p. 55.