Dressing box

Dressing glass and boxes
Cypress, glass, lacquer, gilt
c. 1790-1795

Status

Not on view

Date1790-1800 or c. 1784-1805

Possible retailer Samuel Dunlap (American)

Possible retailer John McElwee (American)

Possible retailer Kid & Co. (American, 1793 - 1796)

Geography Made - China

Medium/TechniqueWood, lacquer, gilt

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D ): 1 3/4 in. × 4 1/8 in. × 3 in. (4.45 cm × 10.48 cm × 7.62 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, 1939 Conservation courtesy of the E. Rhodes & Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

Object numberW-221/G

DescriptionShaped box with independent lid decorated with gilt over dark brown or black lacquer. The top, short side of the box follows and S-curve, the bottom, short side is straight, one long side is straight, and the other is scalloped. Cover features a peony on a pink or red-colored gilded ground at center, bordered by a geometric-patterned ground of alternating octagons and squares. Floral and leafy sprigs on sides. Interiors and outside bottom lacquered.
Published ReferencesCarol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 241, 247. (general reference).

Helen Maggs Fede, Washington Furniture at Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, Virginia: Mount Vernon Ladies Association, 1966), 45-6.

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