A very attractive English convex “looking
glass” with Eagle pediment and foliate details. In Europe
and America, mirrors or “looking glasses” were
considered a great luxury in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
The cost of both the technical production of the plate as well
as the cost of successful transportation of the finished product
dictated consumption exclusive to affluent members of society.
In the mid-nineteenth century, more widespread production of
mirrors helped in reducing the cost, but still, most mirrors
were most often found in houses of the well-to-do. By all accounts,
the vast majority of mirrors found in 18th and early 19th century
American were of English origin, although French mirrors were
a fairly common occurrence by 1810. The most popular form of
mirror in the 18th century was a rectilinear shaped mirror
placed in a wooden frame that was veneered with either mahogany
or walnut. The earliest of these examples contained carved
elements that were often times gilded. In the last two decades
of the eighteenth century, it was more common to find inlaid
components on mirrors. A new type of mirror was introduced
to consumers in the late 18th century. Circular, or oval, looking
glasses with convex surfaces enjoyed extreme popularity in
the Hepplewhite and Classical eras. In the 1808 publication
Collection of Design of Household Furniture, the English designer
George Hepplewhite wrote enthusiastically about the virtues
of such convex glasses:
In apartments where an extensive view offers itself, these
Glasses become an elegant and useful ornament, reflecting objects
in beautiful perspective on there convex surfaces; the frames,
at the same time they form an elegant decoration on the walls,
are calculated to support lights in general, they will admit
of being in bronze or gold, but they will be far more elegant
if wholly executed in gold.
The glass surface not only provided reflective illumination
of candle powered devices, but the distortion cause by the
convex glass was considered a fashionable novelty of the era.
There is a commonly held and Romantic belief that the convex
glass aided servants in providing service to their employers
(hence evoking the term “butler’s mirror”),
however, this misconception by-passes the original intent of
the mirror’s designers. Logically, household assistants
would have no need to look in a mirror to see the needs of
those they served. Additionally, the high cost of such mirrors
would certainly not justify that purpose.
Dimensions: Height 45”, Width 24”.
CA.04.3.102.1
|
