Early 20th Century Arts & Crafts Carved Hand Mirror, Egyptian Revival Scarab Design

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Offered is a well-carved hand mirror from the first quarter of the last century.

I am unable to identify a … Read more Offered is a well-carved hand mirror from the first quarter of the last century.

I am unable to identify a particular crafts person. However, there are parallels to several woodworkers and craft schools. The Arts and Crafts movement in this country produced several noted woodworkers, including Charles Rohlfs, Theodore Pond (Rochester Mechanic’s Institute), and other artisans. I doubt the carving on my mirror reaches the quality of either of those artisans. However, the quality and signs of age suggest a level of training and skill.

Most likely, it was produced as a result of training at a crafts school. If I were to go out on a limb and make an attribution to a crafts school, the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony near Woodstock, New York, might be a possibility. Many of the colony’s artists were involved in the design or production, including British painter Dawson Dawson-Watson (1864-1939), Giovanni Battista Trocolli (1882-1940), who taught crafts and woodcarving at Byrdcliffe, and art school head Herman Dudley Murphy. Zulma Steel (1881-1979) and Edna Walker (dates unknown), both graduates of the Pratt School of Design, played an important role in the design of the furniture and its ornamentation.

My limited research found similar scarab designs on ceramics of the period. Notably is a Byrdcliffe Pottery Carved Scarab Lamp Base c1910. It was likely influenced by a remarkable piece executed by Adelaide Alsop Robineau.

Adelaide Alsop Robineau’s Scarab Vase is one of the most significant pieces of Arts and Crafts Period designs in America. It won a grand prize at the Turin International Exposition in 1911 and is now held in the Everson’s museum collection. I have included an illustration of that design in my last photo as an illustration of how the Egyptian Revival craze had influenced this movement in the first quarter of the 20th Century.

I suspect my mirror dates to around 1910-1920. The scarab design itself can be dated to the beginning of the Egyptian Revival movement from the 19th century. The second wave of this movement reached America at the start of the 20th century. In 1905, when Louis Comfort Tiffany built his home in Oyster Bay, New York. Much of the decoration was indebted to the Orientalist and Egyptian Revival movements.

I see myself as equal parts curator and antiques dealer. Feel free to message me if you have additional questions or would like high-resolution photos. I pack with care and double-box when appropriate. As such, I do charge a $5 packing fee per item for materials. See less