Illustration [378] shows a looking-glass carved and sawed in fantastic outlines, with ribbons at the sides. These two looking-glasses are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Illus. 377.—Looking-glass, 1790. ——Illus. 378.—Looking-glass, 1780.
Wooden frames with sawed outlines continued fashionable until the close of the century.
It was customary for these mahogany-framed glasses to rest upon two mirror knobs, which fitted into the lower curves of the frame and were screwed into the wall.
Illus. 379.—Enamelled
Mirror Knobs, 1770-1790.
These knobs were sometimes made of brass, but the most fashionable mirror knobs were those with a medallion, round or oval, of Battersea enamel upon copper, framed in brass. The design of the medallions varied, heads of historical personages being very popular, while flowers, landscapes, fancy heads, the eagle and thirteen stars, and the ever-favorite design of the monument and weeping willow appear in the bright tints of the enamel. Dwight Blaney, Esq., of Boston, has a collection of over one hundred knobs. Washington, Lafayette, Franklin, Lord Nelson are some of the heads found upon mirror knobs. Four pairs of enamelled knobs, owned by the writer, appear in Illustration [379]. The head of Lord Nelson figures upon one pair.