CIRCA 1720, IN THE MANNER OF JOHN BELCHIER

The double-scrolled capping of the mirror plate and the use of paired eagle heads are often associated with the work of John Belchier (d. 1726) although the mask to the base is unusual. Belchier's documented mirror supplied in 1722 to Erddig in North Wales features eagle heads as well as an upright stylized shell (A. Bowett, Early Georgian Furniture 1715-1740, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2009, p. 292). A similar mirror with raised shells at the top corners but with eagle's heads and a central shell is illustrated in G. Wills, English Looking Glasses, New York, 1965, p. 80, fig. 37. A related pair of pier glasses with armorial dolphin crests, formerly in the collection of the H. F. Dupont Winterthur Museum, was sold Christie's, New York, 22 April 1999, lot 143, are attributed to Belchier and were likely commissioned by the Godolphin family, Cornwall.