MIRROR France, Louis XV period Rosewood ; gilt... Lot 79

MIRROR France, Louis XV period Rosewood ; gilt bronze H. 72 cm, W. 63 cm, D. 6 cm Louis XV had a mirror for his toilet "curved and curved at the top" whose description evokes the curved forms of ours, also curved, with sides mounted in console. Here, the molded frame, veneered with rosewood and encircled with baguettes, is decorated with shells and foliage in gilt bronze. It rests at the back on a valet and rests on two gilded bronze wave feet. Its proportions and vertical symmetry place our mirror in the line of models from the end of the reign of Louis XIV (fig. 1). These toilet mirrors had a long career in the 18th century, until the reign of Louis XVI. Rich Parisian customers came to choose them at L'Enseigne de Gersaint (fig. 2). They could be placed or mounted on a dressing table (fig. 3).