Each with shield-shaped mirror plate within a beaded and gadrooned frame surmounted by a Prince of Wales plumed cresting above a painted oval medallion after Angelica Kaufmann, one of Penelope Weeping over the Bow of Ulysses, the other of Calypso, flanked by urns, the apron with a pair of scrolling candle arms above foliage; both bearing original printed paper labels: THOMAS FERRAND / Carver / Gilder and Frame Maker; / opposite the / GEORGE INN / Coney Street / YORK
51¹⁄₂ in. (20.3 cm.) high, 18 in. (45.7 cm.) wide, 9¹⁄₂ in. (3.7 cm.) deep

The Collection of George and Dorothy Ellis Mahana, 960 Fifth Avenue, New York;
By descent to their daughter Dorothy and her husband Edward Macauley III, Georgetown, Washington, D.C;
Until sold, Property from the Estate of Dorothy D. M. Macauley; Sotheby’s, New York, 11 October 1996, lot 169.
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner.

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Lot Essay

THE MAKER: THOMAS FERRAND
These beautiful girandole-mirrors are exceptionally rare in that they retain the original paper labels from the York, England workshop of Thomas Ferrand (1786-1852) where they were made. Ferrand was a carver, gilder, and frame-maker who completed his apprenticeship in 1809. He entered into partnership with Willian Dodgson in 1814, though their union dissolved in 1816 after only two years, as reported on June 16 in the York Courant when he established an independent carving and gilding business opposite the George Inn on Coney Street, where these girandole-mirrors were made.

Ferrand's trade label appears on one of a pair of rectangular giltwood mirrors sold from the Collection of the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Christie's, New York, 22 November 2011, lot 263, and also apparently on a pair of mirrors loaned to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (see: G. Beard and C. Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1986, pp. 297), as well as on an 'Adam' oval mirror framed by husk and surmounted by a vase (see: Antiques, May 1968, p. 648). On case furniture, Ferrand's label survives on a painted satinwood cabinet decorated with garlands, arched panels of Classical landscapes, flowers, and foliate scrolls (see: The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, Leeds, 1986, p. 297);

THE PROVENANCE
These girandole mirrors were sold from the estate of Dorothy D. M. Macauley in 1996. Dorothy inherited a notable collection of English and Continental furniture, Old Master paintings, porcelain, and silver from her parents, George and Dorothy Ellis Mahana of New York, including a commode from Croome Court which they bought from the Duveen Brothers in 1953. Much of the furniture, paintings, and decorations that filled the Mahana's apartment at 960 Fifth Avenue was procured during their numerous trips abroad. Records indicate that the couple began to purchase furniture during the 1920s and continued collecting until Mr. Mahana's death in 1957. After inheriting her parent's collection, Dorothy Macauley kept the works in her yellow-brick Georgetown townhouse, which was decorated by Sister Parish.