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Lot Essay
This exceptional giltwood 'tabernacle' pier mirror is characteristic of the work of the Dublin firm of Francis and John Booker, 'Looking Glass Merchants', 'Glass Grinders' and 'Glass Sellers', who from 1761 until 1772 were established at no. 6 Essex Bridge, Dublin. Booker mirrors of this architectural style with which the name of William Kent is associated are close to designs by William Jones who in 1739 published twenty designs that included comparable mirrors in The Gentleman or Builders Companion, containing a variety of useful designs for doors, gateways, peers, pavilions, temples, chimney-pieces, slab tables, pier glasses or tabernacle frames, etc.. This pattern book was imported to Dublin in the same year where it was sold by Robert Owen of Skinners Row for 12s., and it seems likely that the Bookers would have seen or owned a copy of the publication.
Typical of their work and demonstrated in this mirror is the inter-locking pierced oval slip which is also found on a mirror belonging to the Dease family of Rath House, Co. Leix (The Knight of Glinn and James Peill, Irish Furniture: Woodwork and Carving in Ireland from the Earliest Times to the Act of Union, New Haven and London, 2007, p. 262, fig. 227), and on two mirrors illustrated in Geoffrey Wills, English Looking-glasses: A Study of the Glass, Frames and Makers (1670-1820), London, 1965, p.84, plates 52 and 53, the former in the collection of the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (The Knight of Glin, 'A Family of Looking-Glass Merchants', Country Life , January 28, 1971, pp. 195-199, fig. 4) and the latter displaying a very similar C-scroll and acanthus leaf cresting. Another example can be found in the Small Drawing Room of Malahide Castle (Gerald A Kenyon, The Irish Furniture at Malahide Castle, Dublin, 1994, pp. 16-17).
Related examples include:
A mirror attributed to Francis and John Booker sold 'The Di Portanova Collection', Christie's New York, 20 October 2000, lot 89, for $127,000 (inc. prem.).
A mirror attributed to Francis and John Booker sold Sotheby's London, 11 July 1986, lot 42, for £31,900.
A mirror by John And William Booker sold Christie's London, 27 June 1985, lot 130.
A mirror with printed Booker label was sold 'Newtown Park House, Blackrock, Co. Dublin', Christie's London, 20-22 September 1976, lot 53.
Typical of their work and demonstrated in this mirror is the inter-locking pierced oval slip which is also found on a mirror belonging to the Dease family of Rath House, Co. Leix (The Knight of Glinn and James Peill, Irish Furniture: Woodwork and Carving in Ireland from the Earliest Times to the Act of Union, New Haven and London, 2007, p. 262, fig. 227), and on two mirrors illustrated in Geoffrey Wills, English Looking-glasses: A Study of the Glass, Frames and Makers (1670-1820), London, 1965, p.84, plates 52 and 53, the former in the collection of the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (The Knight of Glin, 'A Family of Looking-Glass Merchants', Country Life , January 28, 1971, pp. 195-199, fig. 4) and the latter displaying a very similar C-scroll and acanthus leaf cresting. Another example can be found in the Small Drawing Room of Malahide Castle (Gerald A Kenyon, The Irish Furniture at Malahide Castle, Dublin, 1994, pp. 16-17).
Related examples include:
A mirror attributed to Francis and John Booker sold 'The Di Portanova Collection', Christie's New York, 20 October 2000, lot 89, for $127,000 (inc. prem.).
A mirror attributed to Francis and John Booker sold Sotheby's London, 11 July 1986, lot 42, for £31,900.
A mirror by John And William Booker sold Christie's London, 27 June 1985, lot 130.
A mirror with printed Booker label was sold 'Newtown Park House, Blackrock, Co. Dublin', Christie's London, 20-22 September 1976, lot 53.