A GEORGE III GILTWOOD OVERMANTEL MIRROR

This elegant mirror, perfectly in proportion with Wyatt's delicate plasterwork in the Drawing Room at Bowden, where it was positioned over the chimneypiece for over sixty years under the tenure of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Scott and subsequently Lord and Lady Weinstock, is typical of the restrained neo-Classicism which flourished during the reign of George III, exemplified by the designs of Robert Adam. Its arched top is flanked by laurel-swagged urns, whilst the plates are divided by tapering pedestals carved with strings of beads. It can be related to a mirror of similar proportions and dimensions illustrated by Geoffrey Wills, differing only in the inclusion of yet further neo-classical ornament - ram's heads to the top of each 'pedestal' suspending husk garlands between them, and a tablet of drapery to the centre of the arch (G. Wills, English Looking-glasses, London, 1965, p. 121, no. 146).