MIRROR FROM THE EARLY 18th CENTURY, WORK OF NORTHERN EUROPE In carved and gilded wood, the pediment decorated in the centre with an openwork monogram surrounded by putti among scrolls and leafy clasps, the spandrels decorated with flowery waterfalls au naturel; the mirror is attached. Dimensions: 154 x 93 cm (60 ½ x 36 ½ in.) Comparative bibliography : P.J.J Van Thiel, C.J De Bruyn Kops, Prijst de Lijst: de Hollandse schilderijlijst, Rijksmuseum, April-July 1984, p. 29. A Northern European giltwood mirror, early 18th century From the 17th century onwards, picture framing was a very flourishing art form in the Netherlands. Lijstenmakers worked in both ebony and gilded wood. Some of them specialised in making mirrors, as can be seen from an engraving by Jan Luyken from Amsterdam, taken from his collection of engravings Het Menselyk Bedryf (The Book of Crafts) published in 1694 (cf. P.J.J Van Thiel, C.J. De Bruyn Kops, ibid.). Stylistically, our mirror belongs to the tradition of Dutch gilded wood frames of the seventeenth century. A number of frames from workshops in The Hague and Amsterdam are known, all of which use the idea of an upper part topped by a coat of arms bearing generously shaped putti. The source of inspiration seems to have been the engravings in Daniel Marot's Nouveau Livre d'Ornements pour l'Utillitée des sculpteurs et Orfeures (...), where there are many similarities with the ornamental vocabulary of our example (see figs. 1-2). Initially active in France, Daniel Marot left France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. He introduced the French style of the reign of Louis XIV to the decorative arts in Holland. A similar mirror recently sold at Christie's Paris on 15 April 2025, lot 605.