Large Florentine Baroque Style Giltwood Mirror

Continental, 20th century

A large and exuberantly modelled mirror in the Florentine Baroque manner, the pierced frame composed of deeply scrolling acanthus leaves. The stippled inner frame is surmounted by a crest centred by a spray of three roses, framed by vigorous scrolling foliage, with further pierced acanthus extending around the sides and base. Made in the grand tradition of 17th century Italian frame making, it combines great scale, depth of relief and a warm, softly aged gilded surface, and makes a commanding focal point above a chimneypiece or console.

Acanthus frames of this kind descend from the great carved frames of 20th century Italy, in which the frame itself became a piece of sculpture. An Italian example of c. 1640, The Metropolitan Museum of Art