Description & Technical information

Mermaids are a rare feature in Regency carving, and may be a unique feature for wall lights. The carving retains most of the original gilding. The brass nozzles and drip pans are of later date.

A pair of torchères carved as a mermaid and a merman were sold by Clifford Wright Antiques Ltd. in the 1980s.

A related drawing by John Linnell depicts a mermaid as an end support for a settee in the State Drawing Room at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire.

Date:  1815
Period:  1750-1850, 19th century
Origin:  England
Medium: Giltwood
Dimensions: 48.5 x 38 x 30.5 cm (19¹/₈ x 15 x 12 inches)
Provenance: The Earls of Lyndsey, Uffington House, Lincolnshire, England.
Literature: Clifford Musgrave, Adam and Hepplewhite and Other Neo-Classical Furniture, 1966, pl. 32.
Categories: Furniture