Beschreibung:

A FINE, RARE AND LARGE CHARLES II YEW AND BEADWORK MIRROR CIRCA 1665/1675 The beadwork depicting flowers, a lion and a lioness, the bevelled rectangular plate flanked by a depiction of King Charles II to the right and Catherine of Braganza to the left, the upper border also centred by a roundel with depiction of the King and beneath by an alternate depiction of Catherine of Braganza, within borders of yew wood cross grain moulding throughout 110cm high, 85.5cm wide Whilst it is not uncommon to find embroidery framed mirrors of this period- beadwork mirrors are altogether rarer- especially of this scale and retaining such good colour. Unlike fabric embroideries the beads tend to retain most if not all of their original colour. The beads themselves it is believed were often sourced from national and international makers- including Murano in Italy. The depictions of King Charles II and Catherine of Braganza, together with the inclusion of the heraldic lion and leopard, suggest a Royalist supporting family and may be a commemoration of the Royal marriage of 1662. The overall scale of the piece, the size of the mirror plate, further suggests a very wealthy family. For similar please see: A related but smaller Restoration period mirror with provenance possibly to the Horton Fawkes family of Farnley Hall was purchased by the Art Fund in 2014 for the Leeds Museums and Galleries and is now housed in Temple Newsam. A mixed raised work embroidery framed mirror with similar iconography and lobed corners from the Irwin Untermyer collection in the Met Museum (accession Number: 64.101.1332). A Charles II beadwork and faux tortoiseshell dressing mirror circa 1670, illustrated in Graham Child, World Mirrors 1650-1900, Sotheby's Publications, 1990, page 60, plate 2 and subsequently sold Sotheby's New York, Important European Decorative Arts, 9th June 2014, lot 167 $20,000.SALEROOM NOTICE: Please note that the beadwork mirror actually depicts Queen Henrietta Maria on the left, in full-length, opposite King Charles I, in full-length on the right and Charles II is depicted at the top of the mirror on the roundel, and the bottom of the mirror, in the roundel, is depicted, the ever so beautiful, Catherine of Braganza.