Looking glass

Status

Not on view

Label Text

Simply-framed oval looking glasses embodied the neoclassical preference for clean, geometric forms. This glass may have been owned by George Washington. It descended in the family of Martha Washington’s granddaughter, Martha Custis Peter of Tudor Place.

Date1790-1800

Medium/TechniqueWhite pine (frame), Atlantic white cedar (backing board), gesso, gilt, glass, wallpaper

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 17 3/4 in. x 14 1/8 in. x 1 1/2 in. (45.09 cm x 35.88 cm x 3.81 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, 1956

Object numberW-2176

DescriptionA:
Vertical, oval looking glass in an ogee molded frame with beading along the inner edge and a back hollow on the outside.

The backing board and glass are replacements. The original backing board (W-2176/B) has been removed and is stored separately. Two, possibly original, cast brass hangers are screwed to the upper back sides of the frame. Remnants of wallpaper are present along the back of the frame.

B:
Oval backing board with slightly beveled inside edge and one side covered in two layers of block-printed wallpaper. The wallpaper is gray with a repeating pattern in green, rust, and white of large-scale floral bouquets within a trellis-like frame. An old crack in the backing board is secured with masking tape.

Published ReferencesHelen Maggs Fede, Washington Furniture at Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, Virginia: Mount Vernon Ladies Association, 1966), 48-49.

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