NEW YORK CITY OR ALBANY, 1800-1815

With an additional panel above the cornice and panels placed between the colonettes, this pier mirror is an exceptionally elaborate version of the gilt and eglomise model made in New York City and Albany during the early years of the nineteenth century. A closely related example that descended in the Yates family of Albany displays an almost identical design and was most likely made in the same shop (J. Michael Flanigan, American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection (New York, 1986), pp. 232-233, cat. 96). Both are adorned with eagles that appear to be carved by the same hand and details of the painted decoration, such as the use of small "sunbursts" within the wavy borders of the central panel, indicate the work of the same decorator. A mirror with a central panel that also appears to be executed by this craftsman is illustrated in The Girl Scout Loan Exhibition (New York, 1929), no. 701. Like the Kaufman collection example, this panel is centered by paired cornucopiae as opposed to the eagle on the Blair Collection mirror.