Isn’t it beautiful, the woman said rather than asked as she walked up behind me at the auction house. I was staring at the bold white images at the top of a tall gold-leaf mirror, not quite sure what to make of them.
They were alabaster cherubs playing merrily in a tangle of roses against a marble plaque. I found them a bit extravagant, but I was fascinated. They were not entirely my taste and the mirror wouldn’t work in my home, but I couldn’t help but to stop and linger. It was one of those curious pieces that willed you to take notice.
The wall mirror was one of three for sale that day at the auction house; another one was similar to this one but with a beige marble top. Both were abundant in gilt curves and flowers, and the figures were in bas relief on gray marble in a heart-shaped frame, their carved alabaster bodies literally jutting from the surface.
The other mirror was less ostentatious, with a lovely simple gilt frame. The style of that mirror reminded me of an ogee clock.
I learned that these were Italian mirrors made in the 18th-century French rococo style, identified by curves, florid designs and fancy ornamentation. The spirit of the works of that period were more lighthearted than the Louis XIV period before, and the subject matter encompassed less-weighty subjects. Religious figures that had been dominant in the earlier period didn’t go away entirely, as seen in the carved alabaster cherubs or as several sites called them putti. Putti – or putto, the Italian plural of the word – was described as a winged nude male figure like those on the mirror. Cherubs seemed to have a more Biblical connotation.
The most familiar of the putto are the two at the bottom of Raphael’s 16th-century painting “Sistine Madonna.” In many instances, they are described interchangeably as cherubs and putto, or simply as angels.
I found a similar mirror selling on the web – but with a green marble background – that was described as a Trimeau mirror. That style also dates back to 18th-century France, where these mirrors were hung between windows for decoration and to draw more light into a room. Like the mirror at auction, they were rectangular with a top decorative piece.
Here’s a circa 1860s Trumeau mirror and several others, all without cherubs. Here’s one with cherubs.
I wasn’t around when the mirrors sold, so I’m not sure what they sold for. What do you think of these mirrors? Would they fit with your décor and taste?
