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Unknown Maker, American

Looking Glass

Maker

Unknown Maker, American

Culture

American

Title

Looking Glass

Year

ca. 1785-1815

Medium

  • mahogany,
  • pine,
  • mahogany veneer

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Mahogany,
  • pine,
  • mahogany veneer

Materials

pine, mahogany veneer

Geography

Place Made: probably; Place Made: New York; Place Made: New York City

Dimensions

139.1 x 58.4 cm (54 3/4 x 23 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of the Estate of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

31.144

Type

  • Furniture

Exhibition History

18th and 19th-Century American Galleries
Jun 19, 2015
Charles Pendleton House
Jan 02, 2015
Making It In America
Oct 11, 2013 – Feb 09, 2014

Label copy

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.

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, American
Looking Glass, ca. 1785-1815
Mahogany, pine, mahogany veneer
139.1 x 58.4 cm (54 3/4 x 23 inches)
Gift of the Estate of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 31.144

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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