A PAIR OF IRISH LATE 18TH CENTURY CLEAR ‘ALL GLASS’ OVAL MIRRORS
A QUINTESSENTIAL IRISH FORM, DELICATE YET STRONG IN FORM, WITH ALL ORIGINAL FACET CUT GLASS STONES. THESE ARE PARTICULARLY RARE TO FIND, STILL UNITED AS A PAIR, AND IN UNTOUCHED CONDITION WITH ORIGINAL MERCURY PLATES. THE GLASS RETAINS A CORUSCATING QUALITY, GIVING A SLEEPY, LIGHTLY FOXED REFLECTION.
“THE APOGEE OF THE OVAL GLASS IN IRELAND CAME IN THE LAST FEW DECADES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY WHEN A BORDER OF FACETTED STUD LEAD CRYSTAL WAS APPLIED TO FRAME THE MIRROR (AT THIS TIME THE IRISH LEAD-GLASS INDUSTRY WAS AT ITS PEAK). SEVERAL DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF BORDER ARE FOUND, BOTH SINGLE AND DOUBLE-LAYERED, USING FACETTED GLASS AND ALSO FLAT, GLASS SQUARES…. ALMOST ALL KNOWN EXAMPLES ARE OVAL, HOWEVER THE OCCASIONAL SQUARE OR OBLONG MIRROR IS OFFERED FOR SALE. ALTHOUGH FACETTED FRAMES WERE PROBABLY PRODUCED BY MANY MAKERS OF THE PERIOD, THE ONLY LABELLED EXAMPLES COME FROM THE SHOP OF JOHN D. AYCKBOURN, GLASS SELLER (A GERMAN WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY LIVED IN LONDON) WHO SET UP IN 1784 ON GRAFTON STREET IN DUBLIN AND WHOSE FIRM TRADED UNTIL 1819.“
NESSA ROCHE; ‘IRISH 18TH CENTURY LOOKING-GLASSES’, REGIONAL FURNITURE SOCIETY, VOL. XIII, 1999.
H 60CM, 23 3/4” X W 40CM, 15 3/4”
A PAIR OF IRISH LATE 18TH CENTURY CLEAR ‘ALL GLASS’ OVAL MIRRORS
A QUINTESSENTIAL IRISH FORM, DELICATE YET STRONG IN FORM, WITH ALL ORIGINAL FACET CUT GLASS STONES. THESE ARE PARTICULARLY RARE TO FIND, STILL UNITED AS A PAIR, AND IN UNTOUCHED CONDITION WITH ORIGINAL MERCURY PLATES. THE GLASS RETAINS A CORUSCATING QUALITY, GIVING A SLEEPY, LIGHTLY FOXED REFLECTION.
“THE APOGEE OF THE OVAL GLASS IN IRELAND CAME IN THE LAST FEW DECADES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY WHEN A BORDER OF FACETTED STUD LEAD CRYSTAL WAS APPLIED TO FRAME THE MIRROR (AT THIS TIME THE IRISH LEAD-GLASS INDUSTRY WAS AT ITS PEAK). SEVERAL DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF BORDER ARE FOUND, BOTH SINGLE AND DOUBLE-LAYERED, USING FACETTED GLASS AND ALSO FLAT, GLASS SQUARES…. ALMOST ALL KNOWN EXAMPLES ARE OVAL, HOWEVER THE OCCASIONAL SQUARE OR OBLONG MIRROR IS OFFERED FOR SALE. ALTHOUGH FACETTED FRAMES WERE PROBABLY PRODUCED BY MANY MAKERS OF THE PERIOD, THE ONLY LABELLED EXAMPLES COME FROM THE SHOP OF JOHN D. AYCKBOURN, GLASS SELLER (A GERMAN WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY LIVED IN LONDON) WHO SET UP IN 1784 ON GRAFTON STREET IN DUBLIN AND WHOSE FIRM TRADED UNTIL 1819.“
NESSA ROCHE; ‘IRISH 18TH CENTURY LOOKING-GLASSES’, REGIONAL FURNITURE SOCIETY, VOL. XIII, 1999.
H 60CM, 23 3/4” X W 40CM, 15 3/4”
