Looking Glass

Looking Glass

Public Domain

Looking Glass
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Looking Glass
Datec. 1730–1760
Probable placeBoston, Massachusetts, United States
MediumEastern white pine; jappaned decoration, mirrored glass
Dimensions17 1/2 × 9 3/8 × 1 3/8 in. (44.5 × 23.8 × 3.5 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by The Brown Foundation, Inc. in honor of David B. Warren
Object numberB.2001.5
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Queen Anne Bedroom
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
DescriptionBecause of the difficulty in producing high quality glass suitable for silvering, colonial Americans imported the great majority of looking glasses that they purchased, mostly from England. Construction details of this example, along with its fabrication from eastern white pine, indicate that this example was made in the colonies, probably Boston. The painted surface of the looking glass frame employs a technique that was called japanning, a western imitation of Asian lacquer.
Provenance[Leigh Keno American Antiques, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2001.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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