A polychrome painted wood mirror, South Germany, circa 1760, after designs by Franz-Xaver Habermann (1721-1796) and Georg Michel Roscher (1727-1775)

RELATED LITERATURE

G. Child, World Mirrors, London, 1990, pp. 218-256.

H. Kreisel, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels. Spätbarock und Rokoko, vol II, Munich, 1970, pl. 1069, 1079 and 1083, pp. 314-315.

S. Roche, Miroirs. Galeries et cabinets de glaces, Paris, 1956, pp. 34-35.

F.- X. Habermann, Ornements Rocailles, motifs divers, éléments, entourages, cartouches, ornements pour angles de plafonds, etc. etc., dans le style rocaille, inventés et dessinés, collection of prints, circa 1750.

Katalog der ornamentstichsammlung der Staatlichen Kunstbibliothek, Berlin, 1894, p. 23.

D. Guilmard, Les Maîtres ornemanistes, dessinateurs, peintres, architectes, sculpteurs et graveurs: écoles française, italienne, allemande, et des Pays-Bas (flamande & hollandaise), Paris, 1880, pp. 439-442 and p. 449.

The James A. de Rothschild bequest at Waddesdon Manor. Drawings for Architecture Design and Ornament II, Aylesbury, 2006, pp. 614-676.

A typical Rococo work in Germany

Germany, like Flanders, was one of the first countries to produce mirrors in crystalline glass and set up glassworks very early on, as soon as the Venetians discovered blown glass. Germany used a wide variety of materials for its mirror frames: naturally polished wood, amber in Dresden, cut crystal in Bohemia, silver and vermeil in Augsburg, ivory in Munich.

In Germany at the end of the 18th century, the Rococo was described as Zopf und Perücke (plait/braid and wig), leading to this period's style to be dubbed Zopfstil. Rococo remained popular in Germany and Italy until the second phase of Neoclassicism and the introduction of the Empire style with the arrival of the Napoleonic government. The grand decorations of the castles of Nymphenburg, Monbijou and Sanssouci, the Palais Gise, Charlottenburg and the Residenz in Wurzburg (and in particular its mirror cabinet, destroyed during the Second World War) are all examples of the rococo taste that spread to aristocratic residences in Germany.

Several plates of large-scale decorative projects, drawn by the Germanic ornamentalists of the period, provide a concept of global interior architecture. In the heart of a prestigious residence, between the stuccowork and gilded woodwork, a mirror such as the present lot would take pride of place on a mantelpiece, chest of drawers or console table. The German drawings in the Rothschild collection at Waddesdon Manor (in particular those by Simon Gehle and François de Cuvilliés), the collection of plates by Franz-Xaver Habermann and the designs by the Hoppenhaupt brothers give us an insight into the taste of the time in southern Germany.

Our mirror is typical of Germany's assimilation of the Rococo style, with powerful twists, turns, curves and interlacing. Bunches of fruit and festoons dotted all over the surface hang, here and there, as if from the branches of a tree. Only the two side uprights running in a straight line, intersected by a ribboned motif, give the piece any real structure. It is reminiscent of the gilded and painted wood furniture attributed to Johann Michael Bauer in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is also richly decorated with flowers, bunches of fruit and rocaille ornaments.

Work heavily influenced by Franz-Xaver Habermann's drawings

After an apprenticeship as a sculptor and a trip to Italy in 1746, Franz-Xaver Habermann (Habelschwerdt, 1721 - Augsburg, 1796) obtained the right to practice as a sculptor in Augsburg when he married Maria Catharina Wörle, the widow of a painter of miniatures. The shortage of commissions for sculptors in Augsburg in the mid-18th century led him to turn to ornamental engraving; the 600 or so engravings by him that have survived cover a wide range of ornamental subjects. The engravings were published by the Augsburg publishers Martin Engelbrecht (c. 1684-1756) and Johann Georg Hertel (c. 1700/01-76), and later by Habermann himself. Objects inspired by his engravings, such as furniture inlays, wall coverings, porcelain and ceramics, have been found all over Europe. Despite his boundless imagination, the success of his designs depended above all on their practical applicability by a craftsman of the time. In fact, very few finished carpentry or cabinetmaking works from this period have come down to us as interpretations of his designs. Our mirror is one of the rare surviving examples that are close to one of Habermann's drawings. In the catalogue of ornamental drawings in the Berlin library, projects for mirrors are mentioned several times: ‘Nr. 146 Rahmen für Täfelungen und Spiegel (...) Nr. 171 Rahmen für Täfelungen und Spiegel’ (Katalog der ornamentstichsammlung der Staatlichen Kunstbibliothek, Berlin, 1894). Similarly, D. Guilmard, in his repertory of master ornamentalists, mentions in the Bérard, Foulc, Carré and Portelet collections a large number of rocaille preparatory plates for frame and mirror designs (Les Maîtres ornemanistes, dessinateurs, peintres, architectes, sculpteurs et graveurs: écoles française, italienne, allemande, et des Pays-Bas (flamande & hollandaise), Paris, 1880, pp. 439-442). The general layout of our mirror is largely inspired by several engravings known to the ornamentalist, for its lower register, its pediment and the various rocaille cartouches and foliage.

To a lesser extent, the name of the draughtsman Georg Michel Roscher (Augsburg 1721 - 1796) may also be mentioned. In his repertoire of master ornamentalists, D. Guilmard also mentions several rocaille preparatory plates for frame and mirror designs in the Bérard, Foulc, Carré and Portelet collections (Les Maîtres ornemanistes, dessinateurs, peintres, architectes, sculpteurs et graveurs: écoles française, italienne, allemande, et des Pays-Bas (flamande & hollandaise), Paris, 1880, p. 449). The inclusion of small fruits in bunches is very common in his work, even more so than in those of Habermann.

The mirrors can also be compared with works attributed to Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt (1709-1769) and his brother Johann Christian Hoppenhaupt (1719-1786), pioneers of the Frederician Rococo during the reign of Frederick II of Prussia (1740-1786). The generous proportions, bold asymmetrical ornamentation and exaggerated organic lines are characteristic (for mirrors attributed to Hoppenhaupt see Lempertz sale, Cologne, 2 May 2015, lot 7; Sotheby's Amsterdam sale, 17 September 2007, lot 1080; Christie's sale, Amsterdam, 13 and 14 December 2011, lot 848). The richly carved frame, with its ‘C’ scrolls and rocaille clasps, is also comparable to designs by the sculptor Johann August Nahl (1710-1785), who arrived in Berlin after travelling to France and Italy in 1740, and was appointed director of ornaments (H. Kreisel, Die Kunst des deutschen Möbels, vol.II, München, 1970, figs. 716-718-719).

A polychrome “porcelain-style” decoration

The mirror is painted in the style of porcelain, and in particular with the “peignées” decoration found on porcelain from Saxony, Sèvres and productions from Eastern France, including those linked to the Hannong family. These rocaille decorations with pink combed decorations can be found on art objects, such as the large Strasbourg earthenware cartel clock that belonged to the Camondo family, kept at the Louvre Museum (OA 6568). The insertion of applied fruits and flowers can be found in the mid-18th century on numerous candelabras, clocks (for an example see Sotheby’s sale, Paris, June 23, 2021, lot 59) and various objects (for an example see the famous pair of Sèvres porcelain baskets mounted in bronze, from the Rothschild collection and kept at the Louvre ECL20834). Mirrors made entirely of porcelain were also produced in Southern Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries, following the same codes and ornamentation, such as the polychrome porcelain mirror from Dresden illustrated by G. Child in his work World Mirrors, London, 1990, pl. 524.