Looking glass
Probably Northeast United States
1775-1825
Measurements
23-3/4 in x 12-1/2 in
Materials
Pine (probably white pine), mirrored glass
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.662
Inscription
A tag attached to the looking glass was printed for “THE ANTIQUE SHOP / AMERICAN FURNITURE / 1707 Chestnut St. Wilmington, Del.” It is dated June 1, 1955, and inscribed for “The David Wilson Mansion, Inc. / American [?] Chippendale [?] Mirror / [?] [?] antique Blue [?]. / [?] Mrs. M. Dunham Higgins.”
Provenance
Gift of Mrs. M. Dunham Higgins to The David Wilson Mansion, Inc. in 1955. The gift is recorded in the David Wilson Memorial trustee minutes, p. 109, June 8, 1955 (Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum Collection, Archives 46). The label suggests that Mrs. Charles Alfred (Marion Glenn Dunham) Higgins (1889-1971) acquired the looking glass from the antiques market. Although she and her husband lived in Wilmington, Delaware, he was not part of the Higgins family that married into the Corbit family. Instead, his father immigrated from England in the early 20th century.
Comments
This blue-painted looking glass has a relatively simple pediment or crest, compared to other looking glasses. Its relatively wide dimension suggests that was likely made later than the simple pediment might otherwise indicate. The pediment has traces of what appears to be yellow pigment, which was likely part of a decorative composition. It may have been abraded off when someone cleaned the looking glass before it was donated to the David Wilson Mansion.
