Mirror and pediment
Designer
Richard Upjohn
(English, 1802 - 1878)
Date1844-1846
MediumMirror:Black walnut, yellow-poplar, eastern white pine, glass, gilding; pediment: black walnut, unidentified secondary woods
DimensionsOverall: 64 x 43 1/2 x 3 1/2in. (162.6 x 110.5 x 8.9cm), pediment: 37-1/2 x 55 x 9-3/8 in.
ClassificationsFURNISHINGS
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Erving Pruyn
Terms
Object number60.170.1-2
DescriptionMahogany mirror from library of the Kelly house. Designed by Upjohn to match bookcases, according to family history.On View
On viewCollections
Copyright<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.
Label TextProvenance (the history of ownership of an object) can greatly enhance the importance of an article and can often help to identify an object's place of origin or, sometimes, its maker. A suite of library furniture--these pieces are a portion of the set--was made for Robert Kelly's home in New York City and was continuously owned by family members until it was donated to MWPI. Richard Upjohn served as the architect for the Kelly residence. Stylistic evidence and family papers indicate that Upjohn also completed much of the interior of the home, including the designs for the library furniture.
The designer of these pieces emphasized the overall mass of each object, and there is a restrained use of detail. Romanesque and Italianate architectural features are favored over elaborate applied decoration and carving.
An early twentieth-century photograph of the library in the Robert Kelly residence in New York City is in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
