Looking glass

Date1785-1797

Artist/Maker George Kemp & Son

MediumMahogany and mahogany veneer; European softwood secondary (dealer's microanalysis)

DimensionsOH: 46 1/2"; OW: 24 7/8"; OD: 1"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1987-717

DescriptionRectangular beveled mirror plate surrounded by molded spandrel with indented upper corners; frame has straight sides, multiply lobed and scrolled top and bottom rails.
Label TextThis London mirror from the firm of George Kemp & Sons descended in the Williams family of Philadelphia and was noted to have hung abouve a bureau in a family parlor on Marshall street in 1835. As were many looking glasses of the period, this example was most likely imported from England during the mid to late 18th century. Philadelphia looking glass maker John Elliott labeled a very similar example (CWF 1930-99) that has American secondary woods, suggesting the frame is of American manufacture. Elliott advertised that he sold both imported and American looking glasses at his shop in Philadelphia.
InscribedLate nineteenth-century hand-written label glued to back of crest reads "To James E. Shipley / Chippendale Mirror, belonged / to George Guest & Hannah (Newlin) / Williams, hung on parlor wall / in house on Marshall St. Phila. 1835".
Late nineteenth-century hand-written label glued to back of lower back board reads "No. 212--Bureau, mahogany, --brass handles--was / Grandmother's (Hannah Newlin Williams') also / No. 213-- old fashioned detached mirror over Same-- / which with the other like it, hung in / parlor in Marshall St. home about / 1835--".
MarkingsPrinted eighteenth-century label glued to inside of backboard reads "George Kemp & Son / GLASS GRINDERS / LONDON" within a printed boarder.
ProvenanceDescended in the Williams family of Philadelphia. Probably purchased by them from one of the many retail stores that sold imported English looking glasses in that city.