25/01/2026
New stock: Rare Aesthetics Movement Mirror By James Powell & Sons
Whitefriars Glass, of octagonal form with a border of enamelled glass panels decorated with stylised floral motifs within gilded leadwork and containing a convex mirror plate surrounded by enamelled opaline glass spandrel.
Height 37 cm (14.5 inches)
Depth 37 cm (14.5 inches)
English. Circa 1880
The only known source for the identification of mirrors from this group, that can now be shown to date between the late 1870s and the mid 1880s, is a 10-page manuscript catalogue, inscribed on the first page: ‘Messrs James Powell & Sons Whitefriars Glassworks…’
The volume contains ten beautifully rendered designs. Mirrors are shown with or without candle arms, and either white decorated on a blue ground, or with blue decoration on a white ground.
In 1834, James Powell (1774–1840) purchased the Whitefriars Glass Company, a small glassworks off Fleet Street in London, believed to have been established in 1680. He was a London wine merchant and entrepreneur, of the same family as the founder of the Scout movement, Robert Baden-Powell. Powell, and his sons Arthur and Nathanael, were newcomers to glass making, but soon acquired the necessary expertise. They experimented and developed new techniques, devoting a large part of their production to the creating of stained glass windows for churches. The firm acquired a large number of patents for their new ideas and became world leaders in their field, business being boosted by the building of hundreds of new churches during the Victorian era. While Powell manufactured complete windows, it also provided glass to other stained glass firms.
