Looking Glass

CultureEnglish
Titles
  • Looking Glass
Datec. 1785–1815
Made inEngland
MediumMahogany and mahogany veneer; white pine, composition, gold leaf, iron, and mirrored glass
Dimensions39 1/4 × 21 × 2 in. (99.7 × 53.3 × 5.1 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. I.C. Kerridge, Jr.
Object numberB.2008.14
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Mcintire Bedroom
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Since the 17th century, looking glasses have been prominent fixtures in affluent domestic interiors. Early American glassmakers were unable to produce glass sheets with the smoothness and clarity required for silvering. For this reason, most looking glasses in colonial American homes were English imports.

This looking glass contains elements that create a complex and exciting facade. Its vertical  proportions and elaborately shaped silhouette are consistent with the Chippendale style. A gilt scrolled pediment ornaments the crest while framing a beaded oval that references the neoclassical idiom. Gilded leaves of laurel provide a perch for a rococo phoenix, or perhaps it was meant to suggest a Federal eagle. It is constructed from spruce and Scots pine, species of wood that have been identified in numbers of mirror frames from England and the Continent.

Related example: Winterthur Museum.


Provenance Research Ongoing

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

scan from file photograph
c. 1745–1770
Mahogany; mahogany veneer, coniferous wood pine, spruce or fir, composition, gold leaf, and mirrored glass
B.59.34
Looking Glass
c. 1740–1780
Mahogany veneer; composition, gold leaf, mirrored glass
B.69.150
scan from file photograph
c. 1760–1775
Mahogany veneer; spruce, composition, gold leaf, mirrored glass
B.69.81
Looking Glass
c. 1740–1770
Mahogany veneer; spruce, composition, gold leaf, mirrored glass
B.69.28
Looking Glass
c. 1740–1770
Mahogany veneer; spruce, composition, gold leaf, mirrored glass
B.69.29
Looking Glass
c. 1745–1770
Mahogany veneer, spruce, composition, gold leaf, and mirrored glass
B.58.103
scan from file photograph
c. 1760–1775
Mahogany; spruce, composition, gold leaf, mirrored glass
B.69.79
Looking Glass
c. 1750–1760
Mahogany; composition, gold leaf, and mirrored glass
B.61.109
Looking Glass
Thomas Natt
c. 1835
Eastern white pine; composition, gold leaf, and mirrored glass
B.68.26
Looking Glass
c. 1750–1820
Mahogany veneer, unidentified secondary woods, gold leaf, and mirrored glass
B.2012.205
Looking Glass (one of a pair)
c. 1790–1810
Walnut veneer; gilt, composition, iron, paint, tinned iron, mercury/tin amalgam mirrored glass
B.76.165.2
Looking Glass (one of a pair)
c. 1790–1810
Walnut veneer; gilt, composition, iron, paint, tinned iron, mercury/tin amalgam mirrored glass
B.76.165.1