A Rare & Wonderful Looking Glass By Pietro Giusti, with a Noble Provenance Circa 1850
The minutely carved walnut frame, surmounted by a putto, depicts addorsed birds, chimerae, fruits and foliates, and houses a ‘sorciere’ mirror, within an undercarved running guilloche, over the English Coat of Arms of Thomas de Grey, Baron Walshingham, and the legend, ‘Siena, 1850’. To the obverse, the trade label of Pietro Guisti, Siena gives details of his business. Siena, Italian. Pietro Guisti (1822-1878) Carver and inlayer, born 29 July 1822, apprenticed to the legendary master carver Angiolo Barbetti, and opening his first workshop in 1845, he gained quickly an international recognition for the mastery of his craft; his clients included members of the English aristocracy, including Lord Northesk. He was an exhibitor and medal winner at the International Exhibitions of London, in 1862 & Paris in 1867. Several commissions were executed for Lord Walshingham, a descendant of the spymaster of Queen Elizabeth the First. Simone Chiarugi’s two volume work, ‘Botteghe di Mobilieri in Toscana, 1780-1900 (pp 483-490) and Enrico Colle’s ‘Il Mobile dell’Ottocento in Italia’ gives a full exegesis of the remarkable fame and esteem in which Giusti was held.
DIMENSIONS:
Timothy Duke, The Chester Herald of the College of Arms, London, reported to us, as follows; ‘The arms on this piece are of Thomas (de Grey) Baron Walsingham; the marshalling of arms on the mirror frame correctly identifies Lord Walsingham in 1850, three years after his marriage to Emily Elizabeth Julia Thelluson. The inscription suggests that it was made in Siena. Lord Walsingham’s immediate family also had links with Italy; his niece Henrietta Maria, daughter of Lt. Brownlow North Garnier RN, was born on 16 February 1840 in Florence, and baptised there at the British Embassy (Reference College of Arms ms Norfolk 51, 151)’.
REFERENCE:
H:
23 in
58 cm
W:
17 in
42 cm
7868