Looking Glass
1795–1810
Medium
Mahogany and eastern white pine
Dimensions
153.7 × 61 × 6.4 cm (60 9/16 × 24 1/16 × 2 9/16 in.)
Classification
furniture accessory
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
78468
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of early American domestic life with *Looking Glass*, a stunning furniture accessory crafted between 1795 and 1810. This elegant mirror, standing an impressive 153.7 × 61 × 6.4 cm, was constructed from luxurious mahogany—a tropical hardwood imported from the Caribbean and prized for its rich reddish-brown grain and durability—paired with affordable eastern white pine for structural elements. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Arts the Americas department, it exemplifies the craftsmanship of anonymous artisans during the Federal period, when neoclassical influe...