'Rector Elisha Williams' Parcel-gilt and Walnut-veneered Mirror, London, England, c. 1745.

'Rector Elisha Williams' Parcel-gilt and Walnut-veneered Mirror, London, England, c. 1745. Pine frame veneered with figured walnut surmounted by original gilded floral-spray and urn finial, flanked by tightly scrolled volutes relief-decorated with carved and gilded C-scrolls continuing down edges of tympanum to join the delicate pendant foliage applied to the stiles, which flare outward to conform with the bottom rail, whose lobed corners continue to a serpentine edge featuring larger C-scroll ornaments with rocaille borders, all surrounding a complex serpentine central reserve containing silvered glass with a conforming beveled edge, giltwood liner, and relief-molded border carved into the wood, a technique recurring in the modelled hollows of the crest, including finial, wd. 28 1/2, dp. 5, ht. 59 in. Footnotes: Provenance The collection of Eric van Rooy. Nathan Liverant & Son, Colchester, Connecticut, 20 November 2012. A jelly label with typed inscription 'RECTOR ELISHA WILLIAMS' indicates prior ownership by a distinguished Reverend and Army Colonel from the Connecticut River Valley. Elisha Williams (b. 1694, Hatfield, Massachusetts; d. 1755, Wethersfield, Connecticut) served as a minister in Wethersfield after attending Harvard (B.A. 1711, M.A. 1714). He was the fourth Rector (President) of Yale University, from 1726 to 1739, before serving as a Chaplain and Chief Colonel of the Connecticut militia during the French & Indian War. Around 1745, Williams traveled to London seeking payment for Connecticut soldiers from Parliament, and he presumably acquired this looking glass before returning in 1747. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing