MIRRORS  wall, and pier glasses
The wall mirrors of the walnut period were mounted in a rectangular frame of deal, with a convex section which was veneered in walnut and embellished with parquetry or marquetry if required.
With the influence of architects (and particularly William Kent) on furnishings in the 1715-1740 period, the wall mirror became the object of architectural treatment. There were essentially two sorts of mirrors in a room  an overmantel mirror above the fireplace, and pier glasses on the pier walls between windows, hung over pier tables. The overmantels tended to be given the full treatment  pediments, etc. etc., and are rather outside the scope of the normal collector. However the narrow pier glasses can be used in the modern house and are quite charming.
The original Vauxhall glass was rather thin and had a very shallow bevel. Where the glass was very long it had to be made in two pieces. Gesso was often used for the gilt versions and was useful for less important
frames where the cost of carving was high.
From about 1745 a lighter form was used in rather rococo style and the Adam and Chippendale designs reflect this. Later on the convex mirror became popular with its gilt balls and surmounting eagle.
At the turn of the eighteenth century mirror decoration was rather French Empire in style  neo-classical. As the century progressed, manufacturers made large overmantels and smaller girandoles in plaster which
emulated rococo or exuberant French styles.
Value Points:
Carved wood frame
Original glass in good/fair condition
Original gilding
Condition of plaster or gesso  frames are expensive to repair.
A walnut cushion’ mirror with convex frame inlaid with seaweed marquetry. The mouldings are in cross-grained walnut and there is a large cresting with a fret-cut border of seaweed type enclosing a panel of
more marquetry. The glass looks like a replacement. The cresting is often missing, in which case the price is less than half. 1680-1700
A pier glass in gilt with the shallow bevel of the original Vauxhall glass clearly evident.
More architectural pier glass with broken pediment, made in two pieces of bevelled glass. The frame is gilt.
1700-1720

A wall mirror in a carved gilt frame, in the rococo style. 1740-1750

Still very
architectural  gilt frame similar to designs of William Jones in 1739.
Heavy architectural pier glass in the William Kent manner.
A carved and gilt gesso glass with Prince of Wales feathers decoration above and shell below.
A mahogany framed mirror with fret-cut cresting and baseboards.
A mahogany and gilt frame with carved pediments.
1740-1750
A mahogany and gilt mirror which shows the transition from the grandness of 565 to the relative simplicity of 567. The carved and gilded basket of flowers, together with flower and leaf down the sides, add to value.
c. 1745
A Chinese rococo mirror in the Chippendale manner. The larger sizes are more valuable.
1750-1760
A rococo Chippendale oval giltwood mirror with foliage, C scrolls and urns. Again size important.
A convex gilt mirror surmounted by an eagle, of a type reproduced for over one hundred years.
1790-1820

An unusual mantel mirror in the Chinese rococo manner with scroll, leaf, branch and ornithological decoration  birds were always popular.
c. 1760
An oval gilt wall mirror surmounted by a vase and scroll pediment.
A nineteenth century mirror with pillar decoration.
Early 19th century
A nineteenth century pier glass with an eagle surmounting it and copious decoration  two female busts, two birds, flowers, scrolls and acanthus leaves. In the style of Thomas Johnson (1760) but a later
reproduction.