<em>Looking Glass</em>, ca.1740–1780. Mahogany, walnut veneer, spruce, gilt, 56.5 x 29.5 x 3.25 in. (143.5 x 74.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Matthew Scott Sloan Collection, Gift of Lidie Lane Sloan McBurney, 1997.150.23. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1997.150.23_transp696.jpg)

Looking Glass, ca.1740–1780. Mahogany, walnut veneer, spruce, gilt, 56.5 x 29.5 x 3.25 in. (143.5 x 74.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Matthew Scott Sloan Collection, Gift of Lidie Lane Sloan McBurney, 1997.150.23. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1997.150.23_transp696.jpg)

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When was the first mirror invented and what was it made out of?

This comes from the National Center for Biotechnology Information from the US National Library: "The earliest known manufactured mirrors (approximately 8000 years old) have been found in Anatolia (south central modern-day Turkey). These were made from obsidian (volcanic glass), had a convex surface and remarkably good optical quality. Mirrors from more recent periods have been found both in Egypt and Mesopotamia and still later in China and in the New World. In each of these areas, mirrors were in use by approximately 2000 BC or 4000 years ago."

Why are these frames and mirrors in your collection?

The mirrors (excluding the black mirror) are part of our Decorative Arts collection. They're in our collection because they are part of material culture, and can help us understand the way in which people lived in the past, styles and approaches to making throughout time. Many are emblematic of specific times and specific concerns. You might notice higher on the wall there is a convex mirror, it was made that way to reflect and maximize how much light a candle could give off.

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Looking Glass

Decorative Arts and Design

On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor

MEDIUM Mahogany, walnut veneer, spruce, gilt

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS

Possible place made: England
Possible place made: United States

DATES ca.1740–1780

DIMENSIONS 56.5 x 29.5 x 3.25 in. (143.5 x 74.9 x 8.3 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Decorative Arts and Design

ACCESSION NUMBER 1997.150.23

CREDIT LINE Matthew Scott Sloan Collection, Gift of Lidie Lane Sloan McBurney

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Chippendale style looking glass. Overall irregular rectangular shape with gilt and scrolled edges. Crest: pediment-shaped crest with edge outlined by carved and gilded foliage and flames; finial is gilded urn with blossoms and foliage. Sides: gilded egg-and-dart molding on edge outlined with gilded pendant foliage. Base: gilded foliate c-scrolls at outer edge of base; sprays of folliage curve up at jointures of c-scrolls; some slightly asymmetrical flame-like carving below c-scrolls. Beveled sight edge is shaped by series of gilded s-scrolls; all four corners of sight edge carved with flame-like decoration. Plain unleveled glass. Gilding: some ornament is water gilded with gesso ground and layers of bole in various colors (red, blue, pink, yellow, or white); some ornament might be oil gilded. Some cracks in veneer and applied ornament; some missing and retouched gilding; flower missing from pendant foliage on left; lower portion of pendant foliage missing on both sides; glass not original. CONDITION: Ornament and molding separated from substrate; cracks in applied ornament; cracks in veneer. Flower missing from pendant foliage on left; lower portion of pendant foliage missing on both sides. Some missing gilding; missing gilding retouched in places. Glass not original.

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor

CAPTION Looking Glass, ca.1740–1780. Mahogany, walnut veneer, spruce, gilt, 56.5 x 29.5 x 3.25 in. (143.5 x 74.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Matthew Scott Sloan Collection, Gift of Lidie Lane Sloan McBurney, 1997.150.23. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1997.150.23_transp696.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 1997.150.23_transp696.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

When was the first mirror invented and what was it made out of?

Why are these frames and mirrors in your collection?

Thanks yes I see