Oval Brass Mirror with Pompom Cord, in the Style of Maison Baguès

Maison Baguès — the Parisian house founded by the Baguès family in the nineteenth century and brought to its greatest fame under the direction of the family in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s — occupied a singular position in the world of French decorative metalwork. Where other houses served the market for functional lighting and furnishing accessories, Baguès elevated those objects into a realm of extraordinary fantasy: chandeliers of rock crystal and gilded bronze, girandoles bristling with crystal drops, console tables of sculptural gilt metal, and a range of smaller decorative objects — mirrors, frames, candelabra, and ornamental accessories — that brought the same extravagant refinement to the domestic interior at a more intimate scale. The house became synonymous with a particular vision of Parisian luxury: one that was simultaneously classical in its references and utterly of its moment.

This oval brass mirror, made in France around 1940 in the Baguès manner, exemplifies the house’s characteristic approach to a simple object. The oval format is among the most considered in the mirror-maker’s repertoire: it avoids the strict formality of the rectangle while retaining the symmetry and visual composure that a square or rectangular mirror naturally provides, and it introduces a gentle curvature that softens the wall on which it hangs. The brass frame is clean and refined, its warm golden lustre consistent with the polished metal that Baguès used throughout its production.

What distinguishes this mirror from a conventional oval brass example is the decorative cord that surrounds the frame, terminating in two pompons. This textile element — a woven or twisted cord looped around the mirror’s perimeter, secured at the top or sides and falling to the lower portion where the pompons hang — is one of those details that separates a merely competent object from one of genuine character. It introduces softness and warmth into what would otherwise be a wholly metallic surface, the textile and the brass in conversation, and it gives the whole a slightly theatrical quality — the mirror dressed, as it were, rather than simply mounted — that is entirely consistent with the Baguès spirit of cultivated fantasy.

At 38 × 59 cm, the mirror is of a size that suits a dressing room, boudoir, hallway, or bedroom with equal facility. The combination of brass and textile cord gives it a warm, considered character that belongs in interiors of personality rather than mere expense. Dimensions: 38 × 3 × 59 cm.