France, époque Louis XIV Lot n° 14

Gilded wood mirror with ice H. 130 cm, L. 84 cm This richly carved and gilded wooden mirror with a high pediment is decorated around the perimeter with two friezes of rais-de-coeur framing a wide frieze of interlacing decorated with flowers. Acanthus leaves and blooming flowers are part of the spandrels. The wider, indented pediment is supported laterally by two cornices decorated with scrolls and falling fleurons and gradually rises to the top dominated by a female mask crowned by a corolla puff. Acanthus leaves, garlands of flowers, fleurons and entablatures make up the rich ornamentation of this superior element. Characteristic of the productions of this late reign of Louis XIV, this mirror takes up the iconographic repertoire of the 17th century where the power of forms is mixed with the elegance of the motifs.