A pair of exceptional 19th C Dieppe carved bone mirrors, ca 1830. The beveled mirror plate of oval shape with overlapping slices of engraved bone, with musical cherubs, knights in armour and flags, eagles flanked by herladic banners.
Dieppe is a coastal town on the North eastern coast of France, north of Rouen in Normandy and facing the English Channel.
Dieppe was also an important military prison, maintained by the British during the Napoleonic wars. Thousands of captured French naval and military were secured there, all in need of things to do.
Convicts were encouraged to make decorative boxes, figures, military related sculpures and decorative furniture such as this Dieppe mirrors and other furniture to occupy their time in a productive manner. The output of their labour was sold in the Friday prison markets.
Measurements: 84 H x 54 W
