Neo classical gilted wood mirror - Louis XVI period

This mirror is surmounted by a neo-classical vase from which palm leaves and oak tori emerge. The corners are provided with a large fret topped with a vase from which an oak torus begins, winding around the top of the crosspiece and descending halfway up the mirror to a ribbon knot from which a garland of cherry leaves with their fruits, a garland found on the lower crosspiece.

The entire neo-classical decorative repertoire is displayed on this mirror: the oak tori, the Greek ones, the cassolette, the oak leaves with their acorns, the palm fronds, the ribbon knots.
These very characteristic elements were born very early in the reign of Louis with this piece of furniture made a real revolution in the art of furniture, reestablishing the Louis Quatorzian straight line, the use of ebony which was no longer appropriate since the beginning of the reign of Louis XV, and inventing new elements decorative like laurel or oak tori as well as knots.
All these new elements are carried by engravers like Richard de La Londe, J.Ch Delafosse or J.F Forty to name only the most famous, in their notebooks or collections of drawings. All these engravings, widely distributed in the workshops, influenced the artisans and were decisive for the diffusion of this new style.