[David Park Curry] Gilbert Rhode's vanity was designed in 1939. One of the sort of big activities in the 1930s and into the forties was finding use for various materials that were being invented. If you just list the materials that you see in front of you, there's East Indian Rosewood and Sequoia Burl. These are in veneers. The curve of black looks like Ebony, but it's just plywood that's painted. The pale colored fabric is actually vinyl coated, which is pretty modern at that point. The mirrors are surrounded with brass plated steel. The most important feature here is the handles, which are either plexiglass or Lucite. We're not sure which, but that's the first time this new material was applied as a decorative element to a piece of domestic furniture. You don't see any legs. You see big, generous shapes. The mirrors float like balloons above the surface of the vanity, so it's trying to not look like traditional furniture.