Provenance:
Hotspur Ltd., London, 21 January 1994 (with invoice)

Note:
The published designs of the Soho carver Thomas Johnson (1714-1778) were a seminal influence in disseminating the Rococo taste in England. Both Twelve Girandoles from 1750 and A New Book of Ornament in 1758 depict naturalistic, almost fanciful designs that often featured Chinamen and animals inspired by Aesop’s Fables. Even the renowned cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale paid homage to Johnson’s creative genius as he credits him with several Rococo designs in the Third Edition of the Director. These mirrors closely correspond to the center design of a mirror illustrated on page 65 of One Hundred and Fifty New Designs published in 1761 (reproduced here).

Although no specific documented commissions by Johnson have been found, he is known to have supplied mirrors in the early 1760s to Paul Methuen of Corsham Court, Wiltshire and the Duke of Atholl at Blair Castle, Perthshire.