Adam did not make any alterations to Brettingham's original eating room on the ground floor(prinicpal front) at Coventry House, and the only contribution he made to its decoration was a pier glass.

Adam volume 20/67 and 20/66 show an unexecuted alternative for the pier glass frame for the eating room, but it is Adam volume 20/68 which shows the executed design. Adam billed Lord Coventry for both designs at a cost of £2.2s each.

According to Harris, here Adam made use of an 'ornamental hanging device', which was originally an invention of the Rococo style. Here Adam uses it 'as a means of transforming the mirror into a large wall decoration'.

As with much of the contents of Coventry House, it is not known when this pier glass was removed. It was recognised in 1989, despite various alterations, at Doyle's auction rooms, New York, by Alan Rubin of Pelham Galleries, London. Pelham Galleries restored the frame, and sold it to the V&A Museum in 1992.

Harris has noted that a similar mirror frame was designed by Adam for the overmantel in the hall at Kedleston Hall, and for the long gallery at Osterley.

Group

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