Flemish, Antwerp, second half 16th century

with an old paper label inscribed: Van Herck 92 a partially legible paper label inscribed: ... Eug. / VanHerck a paper label printed: 642 and a red wax seal stamp bearing the monogram: E V H

Eugène van Herck (1854-1941), Antwerp;
By descent;
Sold Sotheby's London, 16th December 1998, lot 40

Tentoonstelling van oud-vlaamsche kunst, Antwerpen 1930 - Cataloog: tapijtwerk, meubelkunst, Antwerp, 1930, no. 107;
Scaldis-tentoonstelling, 3 vols. ex. cat. Antwerp, 1956, no. 783a;
Kunstvoorwerpen uit verzamelingen in de provincie Antwerpen: catalogus, ex. cat. Deurne, 1961, no. 8;
Oude Kunst in privé-bezit, ex. cat. Diest, 1976,  no. 32;
H. Borggrefe, T. Fusenig and B. Uppenkamp, Tussen stadspaleizen en luchtkastelen: Hans Vredeman de Vries en de Renaissance, ex. cat. Ghent, 2002, pp. 241-242, no. 70

Tresor de l'Art Flamand, Vol. 2, 1932, pl. CVII, no. 199;
J. van Herck, Il mobile Fiammingo, Milan, 1972, p. 37, no. 33

Overall the condition of the walnut frame is good. There is minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age, including a few small chips and scratches, including a slightly larger chip to the foliage at the bottom right corner. The heads and shoulders of the female figures flanking the mirror at the top are carved separately to the main body of the frame and stable original joints are visible. Joints and minor restorations, including the use of wax, are visible to the satyr's legs, particularly to the reverse. Some stable old restorations, including the use of wax, to the bottom left corner of the frame are visible to the reverse. There are a few small holes to the reverse which have been filled with wax. A section of wood has been carved out of the top of the reverse to facilitate a mount/ hook. There are two metal mount hooks and a metal wire fixed to the reverse. There is some minor evidence of past worming to the reverse at the top. There is some warping to the wood at the top, consistent with age and the material. There are a few small holes to the reverse, made by now lost pins to support previous mirrors/ panels. There is some mercury degredation to the probably 19th century mirror.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In the sixteenth century, Antwerp was the most important artistic centre north of the Alps. The designs of Cornelis Floris (c. 1513-1575) introduced to the city many of the stylistic motifs of the Italian Renaissance, initiating a new Italo-Flemish decorative style characterised by grotesques and intricate strapwork. These motifs were developed and disseminated by the prolific Mannerist designer, architect and painter Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527-c. 1606), who was responsible for the publication of 27 volumes with 483 engravings after his patterns. The graphic designs he produced for cartouches, buildings, fountains, orders of column, gardens, items of furniture and even cities, provided universal templates for artisans across Europe.

It is from Vredeman's designs that the Mannerist motifs adorning the present mirror frame are likely drawn. Vredeman, a cabinet-maker by training, had envisaged a similar frame, chiefly composed of bold interlacing strapwork and adorned with putti and garlands, in a 1566 painting of Christ in the House of Mary and Martha in the Royal Collection (inv. no. 283). It is in his pattern books, however, that we find motifs corresponding to those in the present mirror. The satyrs trapped within the strapwork towards the bottom of the frame can be found in Vredeman's large scrollwork cartouche with a quotation from Cicero (Borggrefe, op. cit. p. 53, no. 68). With their heads in profile, hands gripping the strapwork and with one leg projecting in front of the other, Vredeman's figures are clearly the inspiration for the present satyrs. The canephore find precedents in a bearded male caryatid and female canephor pair in Vredeman's 1565 Caryatidum (Borggrefe, op. cit. pp. 194-195, no. 19). The treatment of the hair, the modelling of the muscular bodies and the fluted herm bases with garland arrangements closely parallel the present canephore. Perhaps most striking is a section from a 'Passe-partout' design by Vredeman in his 1565 Das Ander Buech (Corinthia Composita) (Lombaerde, op. cit. p. 143, fig. 6) which follows a very similar scrollwork silhouette to the bottom right edge of the present frame. Also in Vredeman's Das Ander Buech, we find a female personification who sits frontally, one knee raised, the other slightly lowered; an analogous arrangement to the figure of Charity in the upper panel of the frame (Borggrefe, op. cit. p. 74, fig. 6, no. 18). The scrollwork adorning the present frame may also relate to designs produced by Jacob Floris and published in 1566 in his Compertimentorum quod vocant multiplex genus... ornatum. Similar satyrs, canephore, birds, grotesque masks and baskets of fruit appear in these designs (see in particular those in the British Museum: inv. nos. 1950,0520.398; 1950,0520.399; 1950,0520.403; 1950,0520.404).

The present frame finds a close parallel in a Dutch limewood mirror frame, dated c. 1580-90, in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (inv. no. R 937), which has a very similar figure of Charity at the top and a putto below, trapped behind a parapet. Another limewood frame, from the Provinciaal Museum Sterckshof, Antwerp-Deurne (inv. no. S. 88/1), thought to be from Antwerp and dated to the second half of the sixteenth century, but of more Italianate design, exhibits comparable caryatids and suspended garlands.

RELATED LITERATURE
H. Borggrefe et al., Tussen stadspaleizen en luchtkastelen: Hans Vredeman de Vries en de Renaissance, ex. cat. Ghent, 2002; P. Lombaerde (ed.), Hans Vredeman de Vries and the Artes Mechanicae revisited, Turnhout, 2005; S. Jervis, Printed Furniture Designs Before 1650, London, 1974, pp. 28-29, nos. 119-59