Looking glass

Dateca. 1740

MediumGilded deal and glass, gesso, and brass

DimensionsOH: 29 1/2"; OW: 26 1/2"; Sight sizes: 24 3/4" X 18 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1955-167,1

DescriptionLooking glass; Oval deal frame covered with gesso and water gilding. Carved "in William Kent manner" with roses and acanthus leaves in full relief and containing four segmental plates divided by a sunburst centering mask of Apollo. Near base are two brass sockets, each fitted with leaf-encrusted, S-curved brass candle arm terminating in naturalistic sunflower head with central candle socket and removable bobeche.
Label TextWhile the French rococo style appears to have infiltrated London during the decade of the 1730s, the light and delicate quality of the French approach was not immediately assimilated. These fine looking glasses are excellent examples of rococo detailing which has been interpreted in a much heavier and bolder late baroque fashion. The strong, early Georgian quality distinguishes and separates the English rococo from the French.

Originally designed to reflect the light with their mirrors and their burnished gold surfaces, these glasses have, like most others, lost their bright quality over time. Although they still have a powerful appearance today, their brilliance and impact would have been much greater in their original state.
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceMr. C.D. Rotch. Mr. Solomon Gugenheines (possibly Guggenheim) of New York purchased this pair of glasses in England pre-World War I.

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