Wall Mirror

An important and rare German silver- and gilt-wood Rococo mirror, probably Potsdam, in the manner of Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt (1709–1769), after designs by his master Johann August Nahl (1710–1781).

The rectangular plate within a moulded frame, richly carved with C-scrolls and flowers, surmounted by an elaborate pierced foliate C-scroll cresting with palmtrees and a grape-picking crane.

The design of this mirror, is closely related to the oeuvre of furniture-maker and designer Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt, and especially to his work executed for Schloss Sanssouci in Potsdam around 1750. Hoppenhaupt contributed to the interior decoration of several of Frederick the Great’s palaces. His style developed under the influence of Johann August Nahl (1710-1781), who had been Hofbildhauer between 1741 and 1746. They had worked together on numerous occasions, for instance on the decoration of the concert hall at Sanssouci, which was designed by Nahl and carried by Hoppenhaupt circa 1746-47. A series of designs for the designs of consoles, commodes and mirrors was published by Hoppenhaupt around 1753, and can be linked to a number of items of furniture in the palaces at Potsdam.

The ornamental vocabulary of this looking glas, in particular the characteristic motif of the grape-picking crane and the palmtree, can be found on the wall panelling of Frederic the Great’s palaces Sansscouci, the Stadtschloss, both in Potsdam, as well as in the palace of Breslau.