Chippendale Parcel-Gilt and Mahogany Looking Glass

Object Details

Object Essay

A pediment looking glass of this type—strongly architectural in form, embellished with gilt and carved floral ornament and moldings, and capped with a gilt phoenix finial—would have meshed well with the woodwork and furniture of a colonial American interior of the 1750–75 period in all urban centers. While some examples were undoubtedly made in this country, the bulk of the evidence indicates that the majority were imported from England, as was probably the case with this example.^{1_{Barquist, 294–97; see also 308–10.}}

Its size, cost, and materials made a looking glass of this type not only an imposing work of art, but also a major signifier of its owner’s class and status, as were tall, large, and expensive case pieces that similarly demonstrated social position. The use of large sheets of imported glass—technically difficult to produce in the eighteenth century—also indicated that the owner possessed both means and taste. Reflecting daylight and candlelight, these looking glasses seemingly added volume and space to interiors. Hung high on the wall, they caused viewers to gaze upward, in a reverential pose, to see their reflections amid suitable furnishings, multiplying the effect of the other material possessions in the room. 

Gerald W. R. Ward

Excerpted from Jonathan L. Fairbanks. Becoming a Nation: Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State. New York: Rizzoli, 2003.