The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-02-07
OLD MIRRORS WE
ARE ALL HUNTING

| Almost evory owner Of modern
| Colonial home, be II In the city, sub
urbs or country, Is or n still ant +, r
an old mirror with which to embellish
It's walls: for these not only give per-
spective and distinction to a room. but
impel the fancy to conjure up vision
of the smiling faces In quaint poke
bonnets-and the graver ones under
queer masculine hats-that once con-
suited these impartial judges as to
and captivating.
In the times. however, when the
bellies and beaux of yore thus preened
themselves the mirrors were most fire.
quently called looking glasses and
were by no means articles of such easy
accessibility rs we find our newly
made ones in this year of grace
Followed Restoration.
They wero not in common use IN
England until after the Restorat ton
In 1865. and although there were a
row OF these sent over to the Colonies
those OF the seventeenth century are so
unlikely to be picked up that tho wise
amateur does not set her heart upon
them.
1t is the eighteenth century mirrors
TINT every one Is hunting. and those of
tho hrst quarter of tho nineteenth
I'heHe came over In sufficient numbers
to have become familiar to us In the
numerous heirlooms preserved In tho
old homes of the thirteen original Col
onies, In private and public collections
and through Illustrations and repro
auctions.
II was during the eighteenth century
that our forbonrs began to add the lux
urtes of life to the utilities and mir
rors. very naturally, being among the
first luxuries oraved by the Colonial
danes were frequently part of a cargo
and managed, miraoulously, to with
stand tho voyage over seas In tossing
sailing vessels.
The Flat Frames.
Those of the Queen Anne and George
1. period. from 1902 to 1927. had fiat
veneered frames of walnut at first.
but succeeded by mahogany about
1880. The edges of those frames were
cut In graceful curves the broken arch
usually appearing on top. Indeed. this
| broken arch or Swans neck" as It Is
sometimes called. was n top ornament
which was characteristic OF most of
tho furniture of that century.
| Dyer. an authority on this subject,
tells us to carefully note the surmount-
| ing urn ornamenting many Of these
old mirrors On some, he says, tho
urn ornament used from 1920 to l74o
were shaped like goblet, which diff
Tered from the Chippendale. Hepple-
white and Adam urns of later date,
| though in other respects some of the
Queen Anne mirrors closely resembled
those OF the Georgian period.
| He reminds us that another Queen
Anne urn was squat In shape. like a
small soup tureen. while that OF Chip
pendale was gg-shaped: and that the
more classic urn of Hepplewhite and
Adam was not seen until after 1875.
| On the frames of mirrors dating
from 100 to 1850 thore Is frequently
bird. usually pheasant. flying
through an opening. The shape of tho
glass itself Is guide to date, those of
that period being curved at the top,
while those Of the Georgian period
were square.
! The Chippendale period In mirrors is
from 1860 to 1880. many of them show
tho Louis Quinze influence. Others
had fable subjects In tho decorations.
| especially those OF Aesop.
| Oynls and Oblongs.
| Some OF the most eager hunters OF
antique mirrors seek the oval and OBJ
long ones-those known as girandoles.
! Chippendalo made ornately beautiful