Early 20th Century Rococo Revival Giltwood Mirror With Sir Thomas Lawrence's Calmady Children

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An unusual early 20th-century Rococo Revival wall mirror, circa 1910–1930, featuring an elaborate bronze-gold gilt-finished wood frame with applied composition … Read more An unusual early 20th-century Rococo Revival wall mirror, circa 1910–1930, featuring an elaborate bronze-gold gilt-finished wood frame with applied composition ornament and a circular portrait medallion reproducing Sir Thomas Lawrence's celebrated 1823 painting, The Calmady Children.

The ornate frame features scrolling acanthus leaves, C-scrolls, and richly molded foliate decoration surrounding a shaped beveled mirror plate. Two decorative bronze-tone metal rosette fasteners, positioned at the top and bottom of the glass. The portrait medallion creates a distinctive decorative piece with an appealing connection to British portraiture.

JUNE'S THOUGHTS
What makes this mirror special to me is the history behind the portrait of the two children. Sir Thomas Lawrence considered The Calmady Children his masterpiece, calling it “my best picture” and one of the few works by which he wished to be remembered. And indeed, it remains one of his most celebrated paintings. The original 1823 oil portrait of sisters Emily and Laura Anne Calmady is now in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Widely reproduced during the 19th and early 20th centuries, the painting brought celebrated British portraiture into people's homes. I love that this mirror carries on that tradition in such a decorative and personal way.

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