There is a paricular quality to original water gilding that is inimitable. It has a lovely warmer and quieter quality that new gold simply lacks; once it cathces light at certain angles, it appears to almost glow from within. This pair of Irish Chippendale water gilt mirrors, circa 1770, captures that perfectly.
Each mirror measures 41 inches (104 cm) high by 24 inches (61 cm) wide — such are generous proportions that would command a wall in any Georgian interior. The gilding is original water gilding, exquisitely intact after more than 250 years. The frames are carved giltwood, decorated with delicate floral motifs and sweeping scrollwork in the Chippendale manner. As such, they originate from one of the most interesting chapters of 18th century decorative arts. Thomas Chippendale published his Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director in 1754, and its influence spread rapidly across the British Isles. In Ireland, craftsmen in Dublin and beyond took Chippendale’s Rococo vocabulary: the C-scrolls, the asymmetric foliage, the sweeping carved frames; and interpreted it with their own sensibility. Irish Chippendale developed its own distinct character: slightly more exuberant in its carving, with particular fondness for floral motifs and bold scrollwork of the kind visible on these mirrors.
The circa 1770 date places this lovely pair of mirrors right at the height of this tradition, in the years when Dublin’s Georgian terraces were being built and furnished by a prosperous Anglo-Irish establishment with sophisticated taste and money to spend on their interiors.
A single mirror of this quality is a fine thing. Yet a matching pair is considerably rarer. Pairs would typically be hung facing each other in dining rooms and drawing rooms, creating an effect of depth and reflected candlelight that a single mirror could not alone achieve. For those furnishing a Georgian or Regency interior, or looking for statement pieces in a contemporary space, a pair of mirrors with original gilding of this age brings something that cannot be sourced new. The warm, burnished gold of genuine 18th century water gilding is one of those things that has to be experienced in person to be fully understood.
Please feel free to browse through our website to see some of our fine pieces in our Dublin Gallery. If you are interested or have any queries, please email us at info@osullivanantiques.com and refer to stock number 11034.
