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Lot Essay
The discovery in 2003 of the signature of James Hill secured the attribution to Matthias Lock (circa 1710-1765) of this magnificent mirror, which is in remarkably good condition having suffered little damage or repair. A superlative craftsman, Lock was described by his contemporary, the carver and gilder, Thomas Johnson (1714-circa 1778) as ‘the famous Matthias Lock, a most excellent Carver, and reputed to be the best Ornament draughts-man in Europe’ (Simon, op. cit., p. 3). (1)
James Hill
Following its sale in these Rooms, 10 April 2003, lot 4, the hessian back of the mirror frame was removed probably for the first time since its creation. A pencilled signature, ‘James Hill’, was found on the reverse of one of the carved sections, and the name of this craftsman immediately established a potential link to Lock as ‘Hill’ was the name of one of the carvers who worked with him on the Hinton House, Hinton St. George, Somerset commission in 1740. The finding was documented in the Furniture History Society Newsletter, no. 153, February 2004, p. 2. (2)
Research has revealed that a ‘James Hill’ is recorded as the son of Henry Hill, a London-based frame gilder, who was apprenticed to Samuel Bird, citizen and joiner of London, in December 1726 (Bowett, op. cit., p. 2). (2) Hill did not take up the Freedom of the City of London, and thus, his ensuing career remains obscure. In 1744, he married Mary Sufflee of Christ Church, and died in 1754, leaving his widow to administer his estate. Independent analysis of the signature on the reverse of the mirror frame and that on the 1744 marriage certificate suggests that this is by the same hand (ibid.). Intriguingly, there are two further entries for a ‘James Hill, Cit. & Joyner of London’, recorded in the Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811, who on 6 July 1757 employed Benjamin Sterry as an apprentice, and on 3 August 1759, James Hunt. However, as Thomas Johnson’s autobiography reveals, the working relationships between London’s carving workshops were both changeable and unpredictable, and further research will be required to ascertain the identity of Lock’s ‘Hill’ (ibid.).
Design
Plate 2 of Lock’s ornamental pattern-book for ‘sconce’ mirrors entitled, Six Sconces (1744), illustrates a virtually identical form. Lock’s later collaboration with Copland, A New Book of Ornaments (1752), features another closely related form but with the addition of hermed pilasters, also found on this mirror (Heckscher, op. cit., pls. 2, 23). (3)
In this period, Lock was working for the carver and gilder, James Whittle (1731-1759), an association that was to endure until at least 1755 when Whittle entered into partnership with Samuel Norman (1746-1767). Much of what is known about Lock is taken from Thomas Johnson’s autobiography; Lock evidently became Johnson's mentor when the pair worked for Whittle in 1744. Lock lent Johnson his drawings to copy and furthered his skills as a craftsman, designer and draughtsman (Simon, op. cit., p. 3). (1) Although Lock's association with Whittle persisted for at least eleven years, Johnson notes that towards the end he was ‘greatly declined in his health, so that he did not attend the shop [of Whittle and Norman] so much as their business required’ (ibid., p. 4). While Lock’s exact role within Whittle's firm still remains unclear, his parallel career as an independent journeyman is likewise not fully documented, although Christopher Gilbert suggested that he worked in this function for Thomas Chippendale (ibid.).
The introduction of the ‘Modern’ taste during George II’s reign resulted in the transformation of the Romano-British fashion principally associated with the Rome-trained artist, William Kent (d. 1748). It was now infused with ‘novelty’ and ‘variety’ as lauded by the artist, William Hogarth’s Analysis of Beauty (1753) and Thomas Chippendale’s Gentleman and Cabinetmaker’s Director (1754). Amongst the principal furniture items to be ‘modernised’ were the early 18th century rectilinear and Roman-styled glasses that furnished the window-piers; and these were now serpentine to harmonise with the ‘picturesque’ design of parks and gardens laid out in French fashion that included Chinese and gothic elements.
Comparable mirrors
This pattern of this mirror corresponds to a pair of pier-glass frames commissioned for Ramsbury Manor, Wiltshire, illustrated Edwards and Macquoid, op. cit., p. 339, fig. 72, and sold by the Trustees of the late Sir Francis Burdett, 8th Bt., in these Rooms, 22 October 1953, lot 111. (4) The parallel with the pair of mirrors from Ramsbury is so close in design, ornament and execution that the three mirrors are almost certainly by the same maker. The Ramsbury pair were presumably made for the principal bedroom apartment, which in the 18th century was hung with Chinese landscape paper, after the fashion introduced by Parisian marchands merciers and the East India trade (Tipping, op. cit., pp. 472-473). (5) It is possible that the present mirror was designed for William Jones of Ramsbury Manor, together with the pair that remained in situ until 1953. All three of these mirrors, and a further pair of this type, the latter closely related to the present example, illustrated in Mallett's Great English Furniture, p. 86, fig. 91, have divided plates thereby suggesting that they were made re-using plates from earlier mirrors. (6) In this respect, they differ from the locus classicus of mirrors made by Lock himself, probably in the mid-1740s, for Earl Poulett at Hinton House, Somerset. (Hayward, op. cit., pp. 284-286). (7) This mirror is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and has a single plate suggesting it was made using a new plate.
The sunburst-centred serpentine cresting has a curious parallel in the group of pier-glasses supplied to the Earl of Dumfries in 1759 by Alexander Mathie of Edinburgh. Two of the pairs of Dumfries mirrors have either cresting or apron centred by a Thistle star, Lord Dumfries having been a Knight of that order since 1752. These pier-glasses are illustrated in Bamford, op. cit., pls. 14 and 15. (8)
(1) J. Simon, ‘Thomas Johnson’s “The Life of the Author”, Furniture History, vol. 39, 2003, pp. 1-64.
(2) A. Bowett, 'A Mirror by Matthias Lock?’, Furniture History Society Newsletter, no. 153, February 2004, p. 2.
(3) M. Heckscher, ‘Lock and Copland: A Catalogue of the Engraved Ornament’, Furniture History, vol. 15, 1979, pls. 2, 23.
(4) R. Edwards and P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, rev. ed., 1954, vol. II, p. 339, fig. 72
(5) H.A. Tipping, 'Ramsbury Manor - II', Country Life, 9 October 1920, pp. 472-473.
(6) L. Synge, Mallett's Great English Furniture, London, 1991, p. 86, fig. 91.
(7) J.F. Hayward, 'Furniture designed and carved by Matthias Lock for Hinton House, Somerset', Connoisseur, January 1961, pp. 284-286.
(8) F. Bamford, 'Dictionary of Edinburgh Wrights and Furniture Makers', Furniture History, 1983, pls. 14 and 15.
James Hill
Following its sale in these Rooms, 10 April 2003, lot 4, the hessian back of the mirror frame was removed probably for the first time since its creation. A pencilled signature, ‘James Hill’, was found on the reverse of one of the carved sections, and the name of this craftsman immediately established a potential link to Lock as ‘Hill’ was the name of one of the carvers who worked with him on the Hinton House, Hinton St. George, Somerset commission in 1740. The finding was documented in the Furniture History Society Newsletter, no. 153, February 2004, p. 2. (2)
Research has revealed that a ‘James Hill’ is recorded as the son of Henry Hill, a London-based frame gilder, who was apprenticed to Samuel Bird, citizen and joiner of London, in December 1726 (Bowett, op. cit., p. 2). (2) Hill did not take up the Freedom of the City of London, and thus, his ensuing career remains obscure. In 1744, he married Mary Sufflee of Christ Church, and died in 1754, leaving his widow to administer his estate. Independent analysis of the signature on the reverse of the mirror frame and that on the 1744 marriage certificate suggests that this is by the same hand (ibid.). Intriguingly, there are two further entries for a ‘James Hill, Cit. & Joyner of London’, recorded in the Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811, who on 6 July 1757 employed Benjamin Sterry as an apprentice, and on 3 August 1759, James Hunt. However, as Thomas Johnson’s autobiography reveals, the working relationships between London’s carving workshops were both changeable and unpredictable, and further research will be required to ascertain the identity of Lock’s ‘Hill’ (ibid.).
Design
Plate 2 of Lock’s ornamental pattern-book for ‘sconce’ mirrors entitled, Six Sconces (1744), illustrates a virtually identical form. Lock’s later collaboration with Copland, A New Book of Ornaments (1752), features another closely related form but with the addition of hermed pilasters, also found on this mirror (Heckscher, op. cit., pls. 2, 23). (3)
In this period, Lock was working for the carver and gilder, James Whittle (1731-1759), an association that was to endure until at least 1755 when Whittle entered into partnership with Samuel Norman (1746-1767). Much of what is known about Lock is taken from Thomas Johnson’s autobiography; Lock evidently became Johnson's mentor when the pair worked for Whittle in 1744. Lock lent Johnson his drawings to copy and furthered his skills as a craftsman, designer and draughtsman (Simon, op. cit., p. 3). (1) Although Lock's association with Whittle persisted for at least eleven years, Johnson notes that towards the end he was ‘greatly declined in his health, so that he did not attend the shop [of Whittle and Norman] so much as their business required’ (ibid., p. 4). While Lock’s exact role within Whittle's firm still remains unclear, his parallel career as an independent journeyman is likewise not fully documented, although Christopher Gilbert suggested that he worked in this function for Thomas Chippendale (ibid.).
The introduction of the ‘Modern’ taste during George II’s reign resulted in the transformation of the Romano-British fashion principally associated with the Rome-trained artist, William Kent (d. 1748). It was now infused with ‘novelty’ and ‘variety’ as lauded by the artist, William Hogarth’s Analysis of Beauty (1753) and Thomas Chippendale’s Gentleman and Cabinetmaker’s Director (1754). Amongst the principal furniture items to be ‘modernised’ were the early 18th century rectilinear and Roman-styled glasses that furnished the window-piers; and these were now serpentine to harmonise with the ‘picturesque’ design of parks and gardens laid out in French fashion that included Chinese and gothic elements.
Comparable mirrors
This pattern of this mirror corresponds to a pair of pier-glass frames commissioned for Ramsbury Manor, Wiltshire, illustrated Edwards and Macquoid, op. cit., p. 339, fig. 72, and sold by the Trustees of the late Sir Francis Burdett, 8th Bt., in these Rooms, 22 October 1953, lot 111. (4) The parallel with the pair of mirrors from Ramsbury is so close in design, ornament and execution that the three mirrors are almost certainly by the same maker. The Ramsbury pair were presumably made for the principal bedroom apartment, which in the 18th century was hung with Chinese landscape paper, after the fashion introduced by Parisian marchands merciers and the East India trade (Tipping, op. cit., pp. 472-473). (5) It is possible that the present mirror was designed for William Jones of Ramsbury Manor, together with the pair that remained in situ until 1953. All three of these mirrors, and a further pair of this type, the latter closely related to the present example, illustrated in Mallett's Great English Furniture, p. 86, fig. 91, have divided plates thereby suggesting that they were made re-using plates from earlier mirrors. (6) In this respect, they differ from the locus classicus of mirrors made by Lock himself, probably in the mid-1740s, for Earl Poulett at Hinton House, Somerset. (Hayward, op. cit., pp. 284-286). (7) This mirror is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and has a single plate suggesting it was made using a new plate.
The sunburst-centred serpentine cresting has a curious parallel in the group of pier-glasses supplied to the Earl of Dumfries in 1759 by Alexander Mathie of Edinburgh. Two of the pairs of Dumfries mirrors have either cresting or apron centred by a Thistle star, Lord Dumfries having been a Knight of that order since 1752. These pier-glasses are illustrated in Bamford, op. cit., pls. 14 and 15. (8)
(1) J. Simon, ‘Thomas Johnson’s “The Life of the Author”, Furniture History, vol. 39, 2003, pp. 1-64.
(2) A. Bowett, 'A Mirror by Matthias Lock?’, Furniture History Society Newsletter, no. 153, February 2004, p. 2.
(3) M. Heckscher, ‘Lock and Copland: A Catalogue of the Engraved Ornament’, Furniture History, vol. 15, 1979, pls. 2, 23.
(4) R. Edwards and P. Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, rev. ed., 1954, vol. II, p. 339, fig. 72
(5) H.A. Tipping, 'Ramsbury Manor - II', Country Life, 9 October 1920, pp. 472-473.
(6) L. Synge, Mallett's Great English Furniture, London, 1991, p. 86, fig. 91.
(7) J.F. Hayward, 'Furniture designed and carved by Matthias Lock for Hinton House, Somerset', Connoisseur, January 1961, pp. 284-286.
(8) F. Bamford, 'Dictionary of Edinburgh Wrights and Furniture Makers', Furniture History, 1983, pls. 14 and 15.