An Exceptional and Important George I Carved Giltwood Tall Pier Mirror, attributed to John Belchier

The central arched cresting surmounted by a plume of feathers flanked by a scroll pediment, above twin soft bevelled Vauxhall glass plates enclosed by stepped strapwork decorated slip frame. English, Circa 1725

This sophisticated pier mirror can be attributed on stylistic grounds to John Belchier (fl.1699 – d.1753). Described by a contemporary as ‘a very eminent cabinetmaker’, he is recorded with premises at ‘The Sun’ on the south side of St. Paul’s Churchyard London from at least 1717. Renowned for supplying mirrors, one of his printed trade bills records that he was making up and providing ‘all sorts of fine Peer and Chimney-Glasses and Glass Sconces’ (Ed. Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Furniture History Society, Leeds, 1986, pp. 59-60). Belchier’s most significant known commissions include the provision of mirrors to St. Paul’s Cathedral and during the same period, between 1722 and 26, of pier glasses and furniture to John Meller at Erddig in Clwyd, North Wales. Of the extant mirrors at Erdigg, one in carved and gilded gesso and of the ‘most expensive glass’ at a cost of £50 was installed in the Best Bedchamber. The flattened arch to the top of the Erddig mirror incorporates a bold double-scroll flourish that is reflected in the ornamentation of the example offered here (Adam Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture 1715-1740, Antique Collectors Club, Woodbridge, 2009, p. 292). A second mirror, on a less impressive scale but surmounted in a similar fashion and also attributed to Belchier was sold from the Pearson collection, Dunecht House, Aberdeen, in that case the plume was centred by a mask.
A further related mirror with a similar plumed mask, also attributed to Belchier, formerly in the Untermeyer Collection, is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, (Yvonne Hackenbroch, Highlights of the Untermyer Collection of English and Continental Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1977, p. 73, no. 126).

Comparable shown, bearing striking visual resemblance to those present at Erddig Hall near Wrexham in North Wales, attributed to John Belchier (Fl. 1687 – 1753). (National Trust collection, NT 1146961)

Height: 220cm, 7 foot 3″
Width: 85cm, 33 1/2″