Unknown Maker, American

As America began to form visual representations of its chosen philosophical values, it looked to ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration. Architecture and art of all forms incorporated classical elements, seen in the broken pediment with scrolls ending in rosettes at the top of the mirror. Known as the Federal style in the United States, the adaption of ancient design into American decorative arts flourished between 1780 and 1830. A classical urn filled with elegant foliage crowns this looking glass, while the three-dimensionally rendered gilded bell flowers that descend the mirror’s side echo the inlaid versions on the card tables’ legs below.