The shaped divided plate within a frame profusely carved overall with scrolling foliate and rocaille motifs and flowerheads, the upper section of assymetric architectural design with a column and balustrade supported by a central rockwork platform surmounted by a lion, the sides with a ewer finial of rocaille design, above an apron with a central cartouche and a platform supporting a snarling dog, flanked to each side by larger grass and rockwork platforms with dogs, restorations to the gilding
65¹⁄₂ in. (167 cm.) high; 60¹⁄₂ in. (154 cm.) wide

Almost certainly supplied to John Tempest (1710-1776) for Wynyard, Co. Durham,
Thence by descent to Frances Anne Vane-Tempest, later Marchioness of Londonderry (1800-1865),
Thence by descent with the Marquesses of Londonderry at Wynyard Park, Co. Durham.

Wynyard Park inventory 1949, Drawing Room ‘An ornamental mirror in giltwood frame finely carved with rococo scrollwork and floral motifs and with figures of animals on small brackets. Width: 5 ft. 4 in. Circa 1750 (Probably designed by Matthias Locke)’.

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Lot Essay

With its whimsical asymmetric cresting and elaborate rocaille decoration embellished with animals, this spectacular mirror is after designs by the carver, gilder and designer Thomas Johnson and previously adorned the drawing room of the Marquesses of Londonderry at Wynyard Park, County Durham.

The cresting of the mirror relates directly to designs by Thomas Johnson for ‘Twelve Girandoles’ and to plate 4 in particular, illustrated here. The cluster column, asymmetric scrolling form and animal (in our case a lion) at the base of the girandole is identical to our own mirror. The frame of the mirror relates to designs from Johnson’s ‘Collection of Designs’, 1738 and ‘One Hundred and Fifty New Designs’ 1761, one of which is illustrated here. Johnson, who traded from various addresses in Soho, published his designs in the 1750s in the naturalistic rococo taste that became highly fashionable in the mid-18^thcentury in England and Europe. Johnson trained with Matthias Lock (d. 1765) and was known for his inclusion of animals, particularly those related to Aesop’s fables in his designs and creations. This mirror, with snarling dogs standing on rockwork, recalls the imagery of the fables and is typical of Johnson’s work. The vases in auricular style on each side of the mirror recall the oeuvre of the Dutch silversmith Adam van Vianen (1568-1627) and in particular the celebrated Amsterdam Memorial Guild Cup which with its asymmetric and indeterminate form was so influential on rococo design.

John Tempest had acquired the estate of Wynyard in 1742 and soon remodelled the hall into a large house in Queen Anne style. This mirror was likely acquired to furnish the improved residence. John Tempest died in 1776 and his grand-niece Frances Anne Vane-Tempest, married to Charles William Stewart, later 3^rdMarquess of Londonderry, took up residence in the house in 1819. Taking the family name Vane-Tempest-Stewart they demolished the old mansion and constructed a house, Wynyard Park, between 1822 and 1830 to the abandoned designs of Benjamin Dean and Philip Wyatt for the Duke of Wellington’s Waterloo Palace. Renowned for the vastness of its interiors and opulence of its decoration, the house was described by Pevsner as 'the most splendid 19th century mansion house in the county' and remained in the ownership of the Marquesses of Londonderry until the 1980s.