Gilt silver; mother-of-pearl; wood; and original glass.
SIGNATURE: Ed. AMORY Fecit, engraved on the reverse of the gilt silver base of the mirror’s rear foot.
H. 74 cm (29 ¼ in.).
PROVENANCE: acquired in 1857 from the jeweler Rouzé, located at n° 14 of boulevard des Italiens in Paris, by Baron Jacob Mayer de Rothschild (1792-1868), called James de Rothschild, the emblematic founder of the French branch of the Rothschild family; collection of Baron James de Rothschild and the Baroness Betty de Rothschild (1805-1886), in the Grand Hall of the Château de Ferrières, at Seine-et-Marne; after by direct descent, successive collections of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (1827-1905), Baron Édouard de Rothschild (1868-1949) and Baron Guy de Rothschild (1909-2007) and of his wife, Marie-Hélène (1927-1996), née Van Zuylen Van Nyevelt Van de Haar; then by descent.
EXHIBITION: Musée rétrospectif, exhibition of the Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts appliqués à l’Industrie, presented in 1865 at the Palais de l’Industrie in Paris, Goldsmithing/17th-century section, n° 4020 (Mr. Baron J. de Rothschild): “4020. Mirror frame in mother-of-pearl, mounted in gilt silver; at the top, a female mask adorned with feathers, from which leafy scrolls and floral garlands in the style of Bérain emerge. Signed: E. Amory fecit. French work. (Early 18th century) M. le bar. J. de Rothschild”.
LITERATURE: Musée rétrospectif, exhibition catalogue of the Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts appliqués à l’Industrie, presented in 1865 at the Palais de l’Industrie in Paris, Paris, Librairie centrale, 1867, p. 348, cat. n° 4020 (M. le bar. J. de Rothschild).
A masterpiece of English goldsmithing in the period of the successive reigns of George I (1714-1727) and of his son, George II (1727-1760), this particularly rare and precious table or dressing mirror, in gilt silver and mother-of-pearl was acquired in 1857 from the jeweler Rouzé, located at n° 14 of boulevard des Italiens in Paris, by the Baron Jacob Mayer de Rothschild (1792-1868), known as James de Rothschild, the emblematic founder of the French branch of the Rothschild family. This mirror, clearly demonstrates the influence of the engraved designs by Jean I Bérain (1640-1711), “Dessinateur de la Chambre et du Cabinet du Roi” under Louis XIV, on early 18th century England.
The mirror decorated a table in the Grand Hall of the Château de Ferrières, a residence in Seine-et-Marne built from 1855 to 1859 by the architect Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) for Baron James and his wife, Baroness Betty de Rothschild (1805-1886), who was immortalized by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) in 1848. It also appears in this location in a watercolor painting by Eugène Lami (1800-1890), signed and dated 1863. It is also visible in a photograph taken during the same period, between 1863 and 1868, belonging to an album titled Château de Ferrières, comprising 16 photographs on albumen paper made from collodion glass negatives, now at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Although little documented, Edward Amory was a renowned goldsmith in London during the 1720s-1740s. Even if he was trained as a goldsmith, he does not appear to have been registered with the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. Consequently, only a few signed works by him are known today, such as those bearing the inscriptions Ed. Amory Fecit or Ed. Amory Londini Fecit. We know he worked both with silver and gilt bronze, and collaborated multiple times with the renowned clockmaker from London, Charles Clay (clockmaker at the Board of Works of His Majesty 1723-1737, † in 1740).
Ill. 1 – View of our mirror photographed between 1863 and 1868 in the Grand Hall of Château de Ferrières. Collection of Baron James de Rothschild (1792-1868), titled Château de Ferrières, comprising 16 photographs on albumen paper made from collodion glass negatives, between 1863 and 1868. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Department of Prints and Photography (inv. PETFOL-VE-1402).
Ill. 2 – Eugène Lami (1800-1890), Ferrières, le Hall, watercolor painting featuring our mirror (detail), signed and dated 1863. Private collection.
Ill. 3 – View of our mirror photographed between 1863 and 1868 in the Grand Hall of the Château de Ferrières. Collection of Baron James de Rothschild (1792-1868), titled Château de Ferrières, comprising 16 photographs on albumen paper made from collodion glass negatives, between 1863 and 1868. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Department of Prints and Photography (inv. PETFOL-VE-1402).
Ill. 4 – View of our mirror photographed between 1863 and 1868 in the Grand Hall of Château de Ferrières. Collection of Baron James de Rothschild (1792-1868), titled Château de Ferrières, photographs on albumen paper made from collodion glass negatives, between 1863 and 1868. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Department of Prints and Photography (inv. PETFOL-VE-1402).
Ill. 5 – Eugène Lami (1800-1890), Ferrières, le Hall, watercolor featuring our mirror, signed and dated 1863. Private collection.
Ill. 6 – Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867), Portrait de la baronne Betty de Rothschild (1805-1886),wife of James de Rothschild, oil on canvas, Paris, 1848. Private collection.
