1985.R.407, Crested Mirror Frame, France, Flanders or Holland, c. 1660

Baroque exuberance abounds in the massing of leaves and flowers carved in high relief on this large frame. Cherubs hold a shield intended for a coat-of-arms. A border of flowers interrupted by blank areas, rather than continuous flowerage, indicates a late 17th-century date.

Mirrors were often as valuable and important as paintings in 16th- and early 17th-century interiors, and were frequently framed even more elaborately than pictures. This superb mirror frame is of a type produced in Italy, France, Flanders, and England in the mid-17th century for aristocratic or upper-middle-class interiors. The design called for two separately carved and gilded components, a rectangular frame for the mirror itself, and an elaborate crest. In certain cases, the crests enable us to identify the owner of the frame, either by a coat of arms or by a combination of heraldic symbols commonly associated with a particular family. In this case, the cherubs that dominate the center of the floral crest flank a shield that has no coat of arms, suggesting that the frame was either made for stock, or once had a painted coat of arms that is now lost. Its technique and style relate it most clearly to mirror frames produced in France.

Until 1985: Emery Reves (1904-1983) and Wendy Reves (1916-2007) (owned jointly), La Pausa, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France [1]

From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection, gift of Wendy Reves (1916-2007) [1]

[1] According to: Olivier Meslay and Martha MacLeod, From Chanel to Reves (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 2015), 4-5.

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