An important Potsdam giltwood mirror
Richly carved mirror frame with intertwined naturalistic rocailles and flowerheads to either side. The lower edge with a basket of flowers alongside a rake and a spade, the upper section with a crane holding a floral garland in its beak against a large pierced rocaille with sprawling flowers. H 164, W 85 cm.
Design attributed to Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt, mid-18th C.
This mirror can be described as an incunabulum for the formal repertoire of the Frederician Rococo, a period that ended abruptly with the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756. The finely coordinated melange of rocaille and naturalistic elements is found in this form and level of perfection above all in the New Wing of Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin and in Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam. The brothers Johann Michael (the Elder) and Johann Christian Hoppenhaupt (the Younger) played a decisive role in the design of Sanssouci from 1746 onwards, planning and producing interior schemes and furniture. They were the main contributors to this first autonomous Prussian style along with Johann August Nahl the Elder (1710 - 1781). It is highly likely that this mirror was created in their workshop according to their designs.
Provenance
Private collection, Westphalia.
Literature
Illus. in Child, World Mirrors, 1650 - 1900, London, 1990, no. 484.