19th Century Mahogany Gothic Cheval Mirror

I don't run across many Cheval mirrors that I would like to own save for a few nice Renaissance Revival and Merklen-style spiral-carved varieties, but this one with Gothic details caught my eye. This one is large - 7' x 4' and 2' deep. The seller is characterizing it as Aesthetic Movement with Gothic carved crest, but in my mind there is more Gothic than just the crest and I'm not sure what is Aesthetic about it (gilt incising?). There are trefoils and crockets in the feet, incised Gothic arches in the stand arms. The feet themselves are arched in a flying buttress form and there are pointed arch finials at the bottom trim area. The support stand incorporates Elizabethan style hollow and solid spiral-carvings that would rival any Merklen Brothers work, though is dissimilar to their style. Elizabethan and Gothic resurged in Europe in the 1890s, so it is possible that this explains this combined design and suggests a timeframe and place for it's manufacture. More at the listing.

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5 comments

1836 May 30, 2008

Agree that this is misidentified as 'Aesthetic Movement,' perhaps for the later gilt decoration which gives it the hint of a somewhat later date. It's nothing if not Gothic Revival, though with an Elizabethan twist in the vertical supports. The piece is American, and second quarter 19thC. The cheval glass is nearly identical to Fig. 104 in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts exhibition catalogue: Katherine S. Howe & David B. Warren, with introduction by Jane B. Davis, "The Gothic Revival Style in America, 1830-1870." Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts, 1976. The Houston MFA catalogue example is of the same design and (unidentified) maker, though with some variations: in oak rather than mahogany, in being smaller by about one foot in width and height, in having a fold-out shelf, and in lacking the carved recessed Gothic arches on the vertical supports. A third cheval glass identical in all respects to this one --but without the later gilding-- sold at auction within the last year. The Houston catalogue dates it appropriately as "ca.1835-1850."

RareVictorian May 30, 2008

Thanks 1836. For reference: here and here Since we have at least two, possibly three (the DAG one may be the same piece as this current one) of the same design and each have gilding, I'm wondering if it is original to the design, but merely touched up in some cases vs. being a later artistic embellishment. Maybe it was an "upgrade" if some do not have it.

Goth May 31, 2008

The cheval mirror last September at Fontaines sold for several times this estimate. It was not gilded and had never been. American Gothic Revival furniture of this period was not normally gilded. This example appears to be gilded later, and less an upgrade than a tarting up! Still a bargain at this estimate for a collector.

woodwright June 8, 2008

Sold - $3,200.00 + BP (floor bidder). Very nice. I like everything about it but the crest finial. woodwright

Hilda Lopez-Roberts November 1, 2013

I came across an image of this piece while searching for a cheval mirror on the Internet. It appears, based on the comments, that it has been modified. It is a beautiful mirror.

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1836 May 30, 2008

Agree that this is misidentified as 'Aesthetic Movement,' perhaps for the later gilt decoration which gives it the hint of a somewhat later date. It's nothing if not Gothic Revival, though with an Elizabethan twist in the vertical supports. The piece is American, and second quarter 19thC. The cheval glass is nearly identical to Fig. 104 in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts exhibition catalogue: Katherine S. Howe & David B. Warren, with introduction by Jane B. Davis, "The Gothic Revival Style in America, 1830-1870." Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts, 1976. The Houston MFA catalogue example is of the same design and (unidentified) maker, though with some variations: in oak rather than mahogany, in being smaller by about one foot in width and height, in having a fold-out shelf, and in lacking the carved recessed Gothic arches on the vertical supports. A third cheval glass identical in all respects to this one --but without the later gilding-- sold at auction within the last year. The Houston catalogue dates it appropriately as "ca.1835-1850."
RareVictorian May 30, 2008

Thanks 1836. For reference: here and here Since we have at least two, possibly three (the DAG one may be the same piece as this current one) of the same design and each have gilding, I'm wondering if it is original to the design, but merely touched up in some cases vs. being a later artistic embellishment. Maybe it was an "upgrade" if some do not have it.
Goth May 31, 2008

The cheval mirror last September at Fontaines sold for several times this estimate. It was not gilded and had never been. American Gothic Revival furniture of this period was not normally gilded. This example appears to be gilded later, and less an upgrade than a tarting up! Still a bargain at this estimate for a collector.
woodwright June 8, 2008

Sold - $3,200.00 + BP (floor bidder). Very nice. I like everything about it but the crest finial. woodwright
Hilda Lopez-Roberts November 1, 2013

I came across an image of this piece while searching for a cheval mirror on the Internet. It appears, based on the comments, that it has been modified. It is a beautiful mirror.

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