Comments on: 19th Century Mahogany Gothic Cheval Mirror

By: woodwright

woodwright — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:24:06 +0000

Sold – $3,200.00 + BP (floor bidder). Very nice. I like everything about it but the crest finial. woodwright

By: Goth

Goth — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:28:36 +0000

The cheval mirror last September at Fontaines sold for several times this estimate. It was not gilded and had never been. American Gothic Revival furniture of this period was not normally gilded. This example appears to be gilded later, and less an upgrade than a tarting up! Still a bargain at this estimate for a collector.

By: RareVictorian

RareVictorian — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:04:55 +0000

Thanks 1836. For reference: here and here Since we have at least two, possibly three (the DAG one may be the same piece as this current one) of the same design and each have gilding, I'm wondering if it is original to the design, but merely touched up in some cases vs. being a later artistic embellishment. Maybe it was an "upgrade" if some do not have it.

By: 1836

1836 — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:35:45 +0000

Agree that this is misidentified as ‘Aesthetic Movement,’ perhaps for the later gilt decoration which gives it the hint of a somewhat later date. It’s nothing if not Gothic Revival, though with an Elizabethan twist in the vertical supports. The piece is American, and second quarter 19thC.

The cheval glass is nearly identical to Fig. 104 in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts exhibition catalogue: Katherine S. Howe & David B. Warren, with introduction by Jane B. Davis, “The Gothic Revival Style in America, 1830-1870.” Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts, 1976.

The Houston MFA catalogue example is of the same design and (unidentified) maker, though with some variations: in oak rather than mahogany, in being smaller by about one foot in width and height, in having a fold-out shelf, and in lacking the carved recessed Gothic arches on the vertical supports.

A third cheval glass identical in all respects to this one –but without the later gilding– sold at auction within the last year.

The Houston catalogue dates it appropriately as “ca.1835-1850.”