Looking glass

Status

Not on view

Date1760 - 1780

Geography Made - England

Medium/TechniqueGilt, gesso, unidentified softwood, glass

DimensionsOverall: 42 in. x 27 in. x 4 1/2 in. (106.68 cm x 68.58 cm x 11.43 cm)

Credit LinePurchased by the A. Alfred Taubman Acquisition Endowment Fund, 2005

Object numberM-4432

DescriptionVertical, oval looking glass with a carved and gilded frame with a central, open-center, cabochon or sunburst crest with acanthus canopy. A strip of molding arches above the crest and behind the canopy, then drops down to the sides, loops around, and descends to form the base of a C-scroll on each side; a ball joins the lower edge of each scroll to the main frame. Below this, pendant foliage with one large flower is framed by inward facing C-scrolls with rocaille ornament along their backs. A series of three outward facing C-scrolls forms each of the lower sides of the frame and the lowest scroll on each connects to the side of the central pendant. The central pendant at the base of the frame is composed of a small cabochon above opposing C-scrolls flanked by two short, angular columns on each side and a three-leaved, spreading acanthus at bottom. The inner edge of the frame features two, short, inward facing C-scrolls at top and bottom and two elongated, inward facing C-scrolls on the side.

Three, horizontal boards form the back. They are secured by a series of wedge-shaped glue blocks and silver-covered foil. A rope hanger is suspended from two pierced metal plates, one on either side near the top.

Published ReferencesSotheby’s, A Celebration of the English Country House: New York, Saturday, April 16, 2005, Sales Catalogue N08080, (New York: Sotheby’s, 2005), Lot 146.

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