Description:
Fancy dressing table with a box with looking glass mortised into its top. Surface covered with cream-colored paint with offset panels and bandings of bluish gray. Its panels are decorated with original panels faux marble and gilded and polychrome trophies of musical instruments ornament its skirt and base of its looking glass. The graphite signature on top: "Mrs. Annie Johnson" may refer to its decorator or original owner and is purposely hidden by the looking glass stand. The legs are slightly tapered and their turnings are highlighted with gilding. This dressing table is the most elaborate of a known group of fancy painted furniture with original histories in the Middletown, Connecticut, area. The en suite, mortised looking glass is an unusual feature for a dressing table from this period. It illustrates the increased specialization in furniture design and ornament in the early 19th century.

Tags:
musical instruments

Subjects:
Musical instruments; Glass

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2015.20

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.