This past weekend one of our team visited an auction exhibition for mid-century furniture and decorative arts where, walking amongst the modern and contemporary designs, it was impossible to ignore the presence of 18th- and 19th-century design influences. Here are a few comparatives within our own collection and where they are found in modern design:

Experimentation with techniques of mirror-making in the 18th century led to widespread introduction of the convex mirror. We have an amusing pair of early 19th century circular mirrors that expands this tradition in that they consist of multiple concentric convex mirrors within a flat-mirrored surface (left). A pair of occasional tables by Philippe Starck for the Royalton Hotel in New York, circa 1980, also contains the same pounced mirror elements (right).

Renowned 18th-century cabinetmaker Giuseppe Maggiolini is famed for his neoclassical designs in marquetry on commodes, chests, and tables. One of his more popular motifs, an acanthine whorl, features on a pair of commodes currently in our collection (left). This motif was employed nearly two centuries later by Italian designer Piero Fornasetti, for a series of transfer-decorated gilt porcelain plates (right).

Conversely, we have a selection of mid-20th century pieces that obtained their design elements from 18th century precedents. A bureau plat circa 1925, probably by Jules Leleu, expresses the Louis XV style brought up to date (left). It “[adapts] the unimpeachable sobriety and elegance of his predecessors,” like this Louis XV example by Jacques Dubois (right), “to the dictates of modern good taste.”1

<sub>Footnote:
1. Duncan, Alastair. Art Deco Furniture. London: Thames and Hudson, 1984.118.</sub>