Dressing Glass and Box

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Like their European counterparts, aspiring American colonists were intensely focused on their appearance, and adorned themselves in imported textiles, millinery, jewelry, footwear, and cosmetics. This interest in personal image led to the development of specialized furniture to assist in the rituals of self-fashioning. Dressing boxes with looking glasses—particularly with the bombé or swelled base like you see here—were common in England, but rarely made in North America before 1800. The bold scalloping of the frame’s crest and the dancing, flame-like appearance of the carved, gilded leafage at the center reveal the rococo taste popular at the time.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art