Looking Glass with a View of Mount Vernon
about 1800–181043 x 23 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. (109.22 x 60.33 x 12.07 cm)
Creation Place:
Probably New York City or Albany
Medium:
Gold leaf and gesso on pine with reverse-painted, gilded, and silvered glass panels
Credit Line:
Museum purchase
Accession Number:
1932.9
Currently on View in:
East Hall
Gallery Label
How many times a day do you look in the mirror? In the early 1800s, mirrors, or looking glasses as they were then known, weren’t just for checking your appearance. Before there was gas or electric lighting, mirrors brightened a room by reflecting light from windows, fireplaces, and candles. Above the reflective surface on this looking glass, a decorative panel depicts Mount Vernon—George Washington’s Virginia home. A popular print made to commemorate Washington’s death in 1799 served as the source of inspiration.More to the Story
When it came to cleaning looking glasses, the housefly was a major enemy. In The House Servant’s Directory (1827)—one of the first commercially published books written by an African American—Robert Roberts suggested using a “piece of soft flannel dipped in gin” to remove flyspecks. As a preventive measure, author Eliza Leslie recommended enveloping gilded frames with muslin, gauze, or tissue paper, specifically “green tissue paper cut out into large jagged leaves.” Covering objects also helped people deal with another nuisance: dust.
Provenance
Acquired by Louis Guerineau Myers, New York, NY; (consigned to American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, Inc., New York, NY); purchased by the Taft Museum, Cincinnati, OH, April 8, 1932 (no. 334) [1]. Notes:
[1]. Until August 31, 2006, the Taft Museum of Art was owned by the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts (CIFA), administered by CIFA’s Board of Trustees, and governed by the Taft Museum Board of Overseers. On September 1, 2006, the Museum legally separated from CIFA and began operations as its own incorporated 501(c)(3) entity. This separate incorporation led to the transfer to the separate entity after August 31, 2006 of all tangible assets comprising the Taft collection.
Collection Lists
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