Looking Glass 1760 - 1790

Editor: So, this is "Looking Glass" made sometime between 1760 and 1790. It’s currently housed at the Art Institute of Chicago. It’s a wood carving – a sculpture really, it appears – of a Rococo-style mirror. There's an incredible patina on the mirror, creating such a surreal, old-timey mood… it kind of makes me wonder about the secrets it reflects! What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ah, secrets! I like that. It feels right for a mirror made at a time when the Age of Reason was giving way to…well, everything else that followed! For me, the Rococo style whispers of indulgence and the frivolous, a final, beautiful, elaborate sigh before revolutionary winds began to blow. Do you notice the eagle at the top? Editor: I do, yes! Is it meant to be symbolic? Curator: I think so. The eagle perched atop suggests a nod towards nascent American identity, even if created before the US was quite…itself. These weren't mass-produced objects. They were painstakingly made and meant to reflect not just your physical image, but your status, your aspirations. The slightly distressed glass only adds another layer of history to it all. Editor: So, a status symbol loaded with historical undertones, all wrapped up in wood carving. That's amazing! Curator: Precisely! Art has a strange but unique habit of doing that, doesn't it? Reflecting more than what’s on the surface, much like a good looking glass!