American Federal Églomisé and Giltwood Trapezoidal Pier Mirror

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Description

American Federal Églomisé and Giltwood Trapezoidal Pier Mirror with Green Ground, Attributed to Doggett School, Boston, circa 1815

A rare … Read more American Federal Églomisé and Giltwood Trapezoidal Pier Mirror with Green Ground, Attributed to Doggett School, Boston, circa 1815

A rare and architecturally distinctive early 19th-century American Federal mirror, attributed to the Doggett school of Boston. This trapezoidal giltwood pier mirror features its original reverse-painted églomisé glass panel and mercury silvered mirror plate, framed in carved and water-gilded pine with original gilt ball molding along the cornice.

The upper verre églomisé panel is painted on a rich green ground—a color favored by early Boston workshops—depicting a neoclassical campana-form urn filled with stylized roses, anemones, and peonies. These blooms, popular in Regency-era iconography, symbolized love, renewal, and the fleeting nature of beauty, while the urn itself represents taste, refinement, and neoclassical order. The composition is animated with white reserve highlights and gilt flourishes, suggesting the hand of a trained Boston artisan working in the Doggett tradition.

The mirror retains its original mercury-silvered plate with characteristic soft sparkle and light foxing. The giltwood frame—gessoed and water-gilded over red bole—is entirely original, showing warm wear and punch-decorated corner blocks. The mirror’s unusual trapezoidal silhouette reflects neoclassical design theories of proportion and visual correction.

Despite its modest scale, this mirror retains the vertical proportions and structural format of a traditional pier mirror, originally intended for placement between windows or above a pier table. At just 27.5 inches high, it represents a rare small-scale example—ideal for more intimate Federal interiors such as a parlor, hallway, or bedchamber. Its compact dimensions suggest it may have been custom made for a refined urban residence, where spatial efficiency was key but classical symmetry and ornamentation were still prized. The composition—with the reverse-painted églomisé panel above the mercury mirror plate—follows the architectural logic of larger trumeau mirrors, but its scale and American materials firmly situate it within the early 19th-century Boston Federal tradition.

Dimensions:
Overall: 27.5” high × 15.5” wide (at top) × 12.5” wide (at base)
Mirror plate: 15.5” wide × 9.75” high
Reverse-painted panel: 9.5” wide × 8.5” high

Condition:
Excellent antique condition. Original gilding with expected age wear and craquelure; minor gesso loss and oxidation to the mirror plate; structurally sound with early cut-nail backboard in place.

Attribution:
Boston, circa 1815, attributed to John Doggett & Co. or associated workshop

A rare example of early American Federal artistry with symbolic eglomisé painting, untouched surface, and a dramatic classical silhouette—suited for collectors, designers, and scholars of early American neoclassicism. See less