Thomas Moore
Head of Department
Lot 18TP
A pair of Chinese export 18th century reverse painted mirrors
21 November 2018, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £27,500 inc. premium
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A pair of Chinese export 18th century reverse painted mirrors
Each rectangular plate decorated with seated figures playing assorted musical instruments, exotic birds, trees and flowers, with fishing boats on a river beyond and buildings scattered amidst a rural landscape background, within a giltwood frame with a gadrooned surround, 71cm high x 45cm wide. (2)
Footnotes
Provenance:
A.C.J. Wall Collection, Middleton Park, Oxon.
A.C.J. Wall, who was a successful business man born in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham, amassed a significant collection of English 18th century furniture in conjunction with an impressive array of ceramics, gold boxes, silver, painting, works of art and Chinese porcelain. Wall housed his collection at Middleton Park, in Oxfordshire, which was the home he bought in 1946.
Middleton Park
During the 17th century a castle, which had in fact been built in the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154) within the proximity of the current Middleton Park, was purchased by John Harman of Taynton. John Harman's son then oversaw the construction of a mansion on the present day site of Middleton. Subsequently one of his descendants, called Edmund Denton, sold the property in 1711 to the Honourable Henry Boyle, who was a cousin to the renowned Earl of Burlington.
After various other owners and architectural alterations, including a period during the mid-18th century when Middleton Park was under the tenure of William Villiers, the 3rd Earl of Jersey, the 19th century version of the house with its stone facade was ultimately demolished in the early 20th century. Following that, the celebrated architect Sir Edwin Lutyens was responsible for the building which still stands at Middleton today. Lutyens, who both designed and oversaw the construction of the current house during the period 1934-8, seemingly modelled it on great classical architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries, very much in keeping with the contents of its interior.