Object Number 1955.0092.001 A, B

Object Name

Looking glass or mirror

Category

Furniture

Credit Line/Donor

Museum purchase

Creator (Role)

Elisha Tucker (Cabinetmaker)
1784-1827

Place of Origin

Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, New England, United States, North America

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Label; Center of backboard; "ELISHA TUCKER,/ CABINET AND CHAIR/ MANUFACTURER,/RESPECTFULLY informs his Friends and the Publick, that/he Manufactures and offers for Sale on reasonable terms, at No./ 40, MIDDLE-STREET . . . .BOSTON, a general assortment of / CABINET FURNITURE AND CHAIRS./Mahogany Looking-Glass Frames/ of all sizes, executed in the neatest manner and at the shortest notice./ . . ./N. B. No exertions shall be spared which will serve to render/[s]atisfaction to those who may please to favor him with their .../[obliterated]".

Materials

Mahogany; Pine, white; Mirrored glass (tin/mercury)

Dimensions (inches)

17.5 (H) , 11.5 (W) , 0.625 (D)

Dimensions (centimeters)

44.45 (H) , 29.21 (W) , 1.588 (D)

Object Description

Web - 01/23/2019

Federal-style looking glass primarily constructed of mahogany, with the frame and backboard made of white pine. The arched crest of the mirror is scrolled and spurred. Scrolled cutout brackets are fixed at either side of the crest and base. The base is curved and spurred. Around the glass is applied decorative molding. The stiles and rails are secured at the corners with open-end mortises. The crest, backboards, and brackets are butted and glued to the frame. The joints are reinforced on the back with rectangular glue blocks.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Montgomery, Charles F., et al. 1966 American Furniture: The Federal Period, in the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum.
• Published: no. 223;
[Book] Schiffer, Herbert F. 1983 The Mirror Book: English, American, and European.
• Published: figs. 431, 432.
[Web Site] 09/24/2015 Tin-Mercury Amalgam Mirrors - AIC Wiki. 2020 https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Tin-Mercury_Amalgam_Mirrors
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