A pair of mirrors in carved and gilded wood frames... Lot 22

A pair of mirrors in carved and gilded wood frames with two arms of light and a rich architectural décor of rocaille, branches, foliage and flowers. They are topped with female faces emerging from trellises. The glass fixtures show women gathering flowers against a background of branches. English work of the 18th century. Height : 94 cm - Width : 31 cm The practice of fixing under glass on mirrors developed in China after 1715, and has historically been attributed to the arrival of the Jesuit missionary Father Castiglione in Peking, who was commissioned by the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors to decorate Peking's imperial garden. He learned to paint in oil on mirror, a technique already used in Europe but unknown in China when he arrived. The craze for chinoiserie led Europeans to send mirror sheets to Canton, and Chinese artists painted them almost entirely for export.