Unmasking a Rococo Master

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This striking pair of mirrors display several stylistic similarities to other works attributed to Matthias Lock (c.1710-1765). The vertical scrolls headed by masks decorating the upper sides of the frames are a distinctive feature of Lock, and closely resemble those featured in his engraved mirror designs from several mid-18th-century publications, including Six Sconces (1744) [Figs. 1, 2]. Similar decorative elements, such as the scrolling foliage and asymmetrical flourishes, can be seen on the grand mirror Lock supplied to the 2nd Earl Poulett for the Tapestry Room at Hinton House, Somerset (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; illustrated in Geoffrey Wills, English Looking-Glasses, London 1965, p.86, fig.60).

^{A pair of George II giltwood pier mirrors attributed to Matthias Lock (£40,000-60,000)}

The closest known comparable mirrors are a pair formerly belonging to the 1^st Viscount Chandos (sold at Sotheby’s, 5 November 1971, lot 117; one illustrated in Graham Child, World Mirrors 1650-1990, London 1990, p.96, fig.113). Other similar examples include a pair of pier glasses at Uppark, West Sussex, a pair formerly at Ramsbury Manor, Wiltshire (illustrated in R Edwards and P Macquoid, The Dictionary of English Furniture, 1954, vol.II, p.339, fig.72), and a pair from the Van Cliburn collection (sold at Christie’s New York, 17 May 2012, lot 114).

^{A pair of George II giltwood pier mirrors attributed to Matthias Lock (£40,000-60,000)}

Matthias Lock, the designer and woodcarver, was one of the foremost exponents of the rococo style in mid-18th-century England. Possibly born in Portsmouth, he first appears in London records in 1734 upon his marriage to Mary Lee at St Paul’s, Covent Garden. Although biographical details and documented commissions are scarce, Lock is chiefly recognised for his published engraved design books, including Six Tables (1746), A Book of Ornaments (1747, later reissued as A Book of Shields), A New Drawing Book of Ornaments, Shields, Compartments, Masks, &c., and The Principles of Ornament, or the Youth’s Guide to Drawing of Foliage (undated). His most significant work, A New Book of Ornaments with Twelve Leaves Consisting of Chimneys, Sconces, Tables, Spandle Panels, Spring Clock Cases, Stands, a Chandelier and Girandole, etc. (1752), was produced in collaboration with the engraver Henry Copland and stands as the principal rococo pattern book preceding Chippendale’s Director (1754). Thomas Johnson's autobiography begun in 1777 reveals that Lock was working with James Whittle (d.1759), 'Carver' to Frederick, Prince of Wales (d.1752) by 1744, a relationship that lasted until at least 1755 (J Simon, 'Thomas Johnson's The Life of the Author,', Furniture History,, 2003, p. 3).

^{A pair of George II giltwood pier mirrors attributed to Matthias Lock (£40,000-60,000)}

In 1862-63, the newly established Victoria and Albert Museum acquired more than two hundred of Lock’s original drawings from his descendants. Notes on some of these sheets indicate that Lock created furniture for Lord Holderness, the 1st Duke of Northumberland, and a ‘Mr Bradshaw,’ likely the London cabinetmaker William Bradshaw (fl.1728-d.1775). The collection also contains drawings attributed to Thomas Chippendale, suggesting that Lock may have undertaken subcontracted work for him. After Lock’s death, his designs were reissued by the publisher Roger Sayer in 1768, who described him as ‘the famous Mr. Matt Lock, recently deceased, who was reputed the best draftsman in that way that had ever been in England.’

We are very grateful to Adam Bowett and Christopher Coles for their assistance in the cataloguing of these mirrors.

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