A GEORGE II GILTWOOD MIRROR

This mirror, in the Chinese Chippendale taste, relates to the designs of John Linnell (1729-1796) in its overall form and decorative elements. A design of similar outline is illustrated in H. Hayward and P. Kirkham, William and John Linnell, London, 1980, vol. II, p. 95, fig. 182. Another design (fig. 183) features a comparable umbrella-form leafy canopy. The cresting is also comparable to an overmantel supplied by William and John Linnell to the 4th Duke of Beaufort for the State Bedroom at Badminton (illustrated in P. Macquoid, The Age of Satinwood, London, 1908, p. 14, fig. 8). A very similar mirror was sold at Christie's, New York, 15 October 1994, lot 367.

Easton Neston, Northamptonshire is an impressive and grand Baroque mansion designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736) for Sir William Fermor (1648-1711), later Lord Leominster. It remained the seat of Baron Fermor-Hesketh until 2005 when the house and the contents were sold. In 1846, through the marriage of Sir Thomas George Hesketh, 5th Bt. to Lady Anna Maria Isabella Fermor, sister and heiress of George Richard William Fermor, 5th and last Earl of Pomfret, the family acquired Rufford New Hall, Lancashire, which had been built by Sir Robert Hesketh in 1760.