A SWEDISH GILT-LEAD, BLUE, CLEAR AND ETCHED GLASS MIRROR
Lot 548 THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 

A SWEDISH GILT-LEAD, BLUE, CLEAR AND ETCHED GLASS MIRROR

EARLY 18TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF BURCHARD PRECHT

Closed7 July 2011

Price Realised

GBP 23,750

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A SWEDISH GILT-LEAD, BLUE, CLEAR AND ETCHED GLASS MIRROR
EARLY 18TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF BURCHARD PRECHT
The confronting C-scrolled arched cresting decorated with floral trails and surmounted by a flower-filled urn, above a rectangular bevelled divided plate with beaded borders and foliate spandrels
51¾ x 25½in. (131.5 x 65 cm.)

Acquired from Galerie Kugel, Paris.
'A Town House in Mayfair', Christie's, London, 20 November 2008, lot 562 where acquired by the present owner.

Specialist note

With its idiosyncratic arched cresting, confronting C-scrolls, and floral bouquet finial, this elegant mirror is characteristic of the oeuvre of Burchard Precht (d. 1738).

The Precht family is synonymous with the production of mirrors in Sweden in the early part of the 18th Century and numerous examples are attributed to either Burchard Precht or his sons Gustav (d. 1763) and Christian (d. 1779). Originally from Bremen, Burchard Precht arrived in Stockholm in 1674 to work at Drottingholm Palace and was named carver to the Swedish Court in 1682. In 1687-88 he travelled to Rome and Paris with Court architect Nicodemus Tessin, a collaboration which strongly influenced his work and led to many ecclesiastical commissions. His sons also achieved great success, Christian becoming an important silversmith in Sweden during the mid-18th Century.

A related mirror was formerly in the Wrightsman collection (F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, II, New York, 1966, no. 209, pl. 395) while comparable examples are illustrated in S. Roche et al., Mirrors, New York, 1985, col. pl. VII and T. Sylvén and E. Welander-Berggren, Speglar: Spegelmakare & Fabrikörer I Sverige 1650-1850, Stockholm, 2000, pp. 194, 196-197.