Unknown
Looking Glass
c. 1800-1815
Physical Qualities
Gilded wood with mirror glass; reverse painted and gilded glass decoration, 51 1/4 x 23 3/16 x 4 in. (130.2 x 58.9 x 10.2 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of Mary Louise "Wheezie" Gutman, Baltimore
Object Number
2009.50
A memorial to George Washington tops this resplendent New York looking glass. Using the reverse-glass painting technique, the image is rendered in gold against icy blue and white paint on the back of the glass. The delicately carved check frame is crowned with a pair of reverse-glass painted pyramidal crest elements centered by a richly gilded eagle perched on a plinth with a reverse-glass painted base. The back of the mirror itself may have been silvered with a tin/mercury mixture – and early technique that rarely survives. Such mirrors are remarkably fragile.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 2009; Mrs. Arthur J. Gutman, Baltimore
Inscribed: None
Markings: None
Maker
Unknown
On View: American Wing Second Floor, Scott 06
