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Lot Essay
These giltwood mirrors are influenced by the George III 'picturesque' style popularised in Matthias Lock and Henry Copland's A New Book of Ornaments, London, 1752 and Thomas Johnson's Collection of Designs, 1758 (pl. 2). With their rustic branch-wrapped frames and ho-ho bird crestings they epitomise the fashion for furnishings which reflectic the exotic beauty of nature, which characterised 'Rococo' taste in England in the mid-18th Century.
DAVID STYLE
These beautifully and naturalistically-carved mirrors were owned by the inveterate collector, dealer and designer David Style (1913-2004). In 1945, he purchased his family's former home, Wateringbury Place near Maidstone in Kent, creating interiors that John Harris described in a most vivid way: 'a kaleidoscopic effect of colour and objects, warm and rich, quirky, full of amusement and flashes of inspirational juxtapositions and always agreeable, comfortable and eminently liveable'. By 1963, Style took over the shop of Arthur H. Brown in Chelsea which similarly became 'a mecca for those who shared and appreciated David's infectious and rather quirky taste' (Anthony Coleridge, introduction to Christie's 2005 collection sale catalogue). Not all items were selected on purely decorative merit. Many pieces were of extraordinary quality and prestigious provenance, including the Italian ormolu and pietra dura cabinet from Hamilton Palace, pieces from Ashburnham Place and Leeds Castle, and a suite of Regency furniture by Morel and Hughes from Northumberland House. Several pieces were purchased by this private collector from the celebrated 1978 three-day house sale held by Christie's on the premises at Wateringbury, including lots 12, 79, 91, 93, 95, 100, & 106; as well as in the sale of David Style's collection after his death in 2004 held more recently at Christie's (lots 123, 125 & 220).
DAVID STYLE
These beautifully and naturalistically-carved mirrors were owned by the inveterate collector, dealer and designer David Style (1913-2004). In 1945, he purchased his family's former home, Wateringbury Place near Maidstone in Kent, creating interiors that John Harris described in a most vivid way: 'a kaleidoscopic effect of colour and objects, warm and rich, quirky, full of amusement and flashes of inspirational juxtapositions and always agreeable, comfortable and eminently liveable'. By 1963, Style took over the shop of Arthur H. Brown in Chelsea which similarly became 'a mecca for those who shared and appreciated David's infectious and rather quirky taste' (Anthony Coleridge, introduction to Christie's 2005 collection sale catalogue). Not all items were selected on purely decorative merit. Many pieces were of extraordinary quality and prestigious provenance, including the Italian ormolu and pietra dura cabinet from Hamilton Palace, pieces from Ashburnham Place and Leeds Castle, and a suite of Regency furniture by Morel and Hughes from Northumberland House. Several pieces were purchased by this private collector from the celebrated 1978 three-day house sale held by Christie's on the premises at Wateringbury, including lots 12, 79, 91, 93, 95, 100, & 106; as well as in the sale of David Style's collection after his death in 2004 held more recently at Christie's (lots 123, 125 & 220).