£5,250
Five Centuries: Furniture, Paintings & Works of Art | 641
Auction: Five Centuries: Furniture, Paintings & Works of Art
the circular mirror plate within an ebonised reeded slip and frame with a pair of intertwined serpents and bullrushes, issuing a pair of scrolling candle arms with raised star motifs, bearing a maker's label verso, JOHN STEELL, CARVER, GILDER, EDINBURGH
Provenance: Property from Tornaveen House, Aberdeenshire
Note: John Steell (1779-1849) was born in Aberdeen but settled in Edinburgh in 1806 and worked as a carver, gilder, and print-seller, having premises at 2 Low Calton and later 34 Princes Street. A carver of considerable skill, he completed numerous commissions throughout the capital, but proved to be a poor businessman with proceedings to declare him bankrupt taking place in 1819. Notably, his son John Steell, who started as an apprentice in his father's workshop, went on to become one of Scotland's highest regarded 19th century sculptors.