Mirror frame of porcelain
Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory, c. 1784

H: 45 cm

Inventory number KP 82

One of the particularly fine polychrome pieces in The David Collection is this mirror frame. It has details in green and gold and is richly decorated with sculptural encrusted leaves and flower garlands in natural colours. At the top of the frame is an openwork flower basket similar in design to baskets created at the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory. At the bottom of the frame is a gilded lion’s head flanked by a symmetrically arranged drapery in relief.

The mirror frame was created at the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory in the mid-1780s.¹ It was a highly exclusive item at the time, and it is likely that the frame was created for a member of the royal family.

As a type, mirror frames of porcelain were part of toilet services or vanity sets which also included candlesticks, boxes of various sizes, brushes and an ewer and basin set.²

Published in

Bredo L. Grandjean: ‘Dansk porcelæn’ in C.L. Davids Samling, Anden Del, København 1953, pp. 150, 176–177;
C.L. David: C.L. Davids Samling, København 1960, p. 45;
Bredo L. Grandjean: Kongelig Dansk Porcelain: 1775-1884, København 1962, p. 250 and fig. 126, p. 141;
Dansk kunst og kunsthåndværk, Davids Samling, København 1972, pp. 25–26 and pl. 15;
Verner Jul Andersen: Dansk kunst og kunsthåndværk, Davids Samling, København 1983, cat. 81, pp. 33–34;
Lauritz G. Dorenfeldt: Kongeligt porcelæn: brogetmalet porcelæn fra Den Kongelige Porcelainsfabrik 1775-1810, København 2016, p. 170;

Footnotes

Mirror frames are first mentioned in the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory protocol in 1784. It is likely that this was also the year in which this model was created. See Bredo L. Grandjean: Kongelig Dansk Porcelain: 1775-1884, Copenhagen 1962, p. 250

Bredo L. Grandjean: Kongelig Dansk Porcelain: 1775-1884, Copenhagen 1962, p. 235.