8. Very rare Delft earthenware mirror, circa 1680 A very rare Dutch Delftware mirror, circa 1680 In moulded high-relief with a grotesque mask at the top supported by putti arising from the wild baroque foliage, mirrored scrolling foliage on both sides, the top with a larger round hole and two smaller ones likely for fitting a metal candle bracket, 38.6 cm. x 31.4cm diam. (the mirror a later replacement) Provenance: The Ivan B. Hart Collection; Sold at Rob Michiels Auctions, Bruges, 28 March 2015, lot 103; Private European Collection Literature: Aronson, R. and Brouwers, E., Dutch Delftware, The Ivan B. Hart Collection, Aronson Antiquairs, Amsterdam, 2013, no. 3, p. 10 This rare mirror is one of only four examples of Dutch Delft mirror frames currently recorded; the other three are in the collection of the Rijksmuseum (BK-NM-12400-95, BK-1959-55). Delftware pieces made for the interior were often based on metal examples, such as candlesticks and wall sconces. This mirror, too, appears to be based on a late 17th-century wooden or metal model, and at least partly influenced by the work of Daniel Marot (1661-1752), the great French-born Dutch Baroque architect, furniture designer and engraver. These kinds of precious objects were often associated directly with the Royal Court of William and Mary, for whom Marot designed the palace interiors at the Dutch Royal Palace of Het Loo from 1684. Exceptional designs and objects were found among the items excavated at Het Loo and listed among the "Delft porcelain" in the inventories. A courtly poem on the Gelderland Castle of Rosendael by Johannes d'Outrein (1662-1722) suggests that it is highly likely that much of the Delftware was made or designed to Queen Mary's specifications. In the stanza on the queen's closet he refers to "porcelain vases, which have been made to order for this place by the great queen Mary". This closet was a small pavilion in the garden of Kasteel Rosendael that was dedicated to Mary and was probably a gift from the Queen to her courtier, Janne Margriete van Arnhem (1635-1721), shortly before Mary left for England. Unfortunately, it was dismantled and is known only from descriptions. The mirrors in Jan d'Outrein's poem were fitted in the wall: "Het Midelst vercierd met d'heldre spiegelglasen, Waar in sig't kabinet ten tweedenmaal vertoont" (see A.M.L.E. Erkelens, Delffs Porcelijn' van koningin Mary II, 1996, pp.28-29).