Looking Glass

Public Domain

ExpandFavorite

Images(2)

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

On view

Explore Further

Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

FURNITURE

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.

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

Discover More

Dressing Glass

c. 1760–1790

Mahogany; eastern white pine, mirrored glass

B.2001.6

Thomas Natt

Looking Glass

c. 1835

Eastern white pine; composition, gold leaf, and mirrored glass

B.68.26

Square Sofa

c. 1790–1820

Mahogany; eastern white pine, spruce, and birch

B.56.172

Thomas Fentham

Mirror

c. 1800

Eastern white pine, scots pine, spruce, composition, paint, gold leaf, mercury/tin amalgam mirrored glass

B.69.180

Benjamin Henry Latrobe

Pair of Side Chairs

1808

Yellow poplar, oak, maple, eastern white pine, gold leaf, gesso, and cane

B.90.9.1,.2

Armchair

c. 1785–1815

Ash; painted and gilded, composition decoration; original linen and horsehair foundation; gilded brass tacks; and modern silk cover

B.91.51

Looking Glass

c. 1785–1815

Mahogany and mahogany veneer; white pine, composition, gold leaf, iron, and mirrored glass

B.2008.14

John Henry Belter

Étagère

1855

Rosewood and rosewood veneer; black walnut, mahogany, eastern white pine, yellow-poplar, undetermined exotic wood (possibly eucalyptus), marble, and mirrored glass

B.81.9.10