A CARVED GILTWOOD MIRROR LATE 18TH/ EARLY 19TH CENTURY, IN THE MANNER OF THOMAS CHIPPENDALE with divided bevelled arched rectangular plate,carved overall with scrolling foliage, acanthus scrolls and flowering branches, the arched c-scroll carved cresting with eagles resting on rockwork, foliage and acanthus leaves, the apron with confronting acanthus and c-scroll carved clasp244cm high x 101 cm (at the widest point)Provenance:The Crawley Boevey Family Sold Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire: Catalogue of the Valuable Contents, Bruton, Knowles & Co., 29 March - 5 April 1960, lot 1232, 'A FINE CHIPPENDALE WALL MIRROR IN CARVED GILT WOOD FRAME, fitted two plates with narrow outer borders finely carved with C scrolls, acanthus and flowering trees, a fine carved and shaped pediment set with birds, overall measurements, 8 ft. high, 3ft. 6 in. wide.' Literature: J. Lees-Milne, 'Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire - III: The Home of Mr. and Mrs. F.B. Watkins', Country Life, 12 April 1973, p. 982, fig. 5, The Morning Room.T. Messel, Oliver Messel: in the theatre of design, New York, 2011, p. 124, 'the morning room'This mirror is an interpretation of a design for a pier glass by Thomas Chippendale (1718-79) (see plate CLXIX for a related design published in Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 3rd edition, 1763).As Oliver Messel was initially commissioned for the interiors of the Morning Room and Drawing Room, it seems likely that he incorporated this historic mirror from the original Crawley-Boevey family collection into his scheme for Flaxley after it had been bought by Frederick Baden Watkins in the 1960s.