Bay Colony Antiques is proud to offer for sale this fantastic early 20th century antique Federal style tabernacle mirror. The mirror exhibits a superior form, and the upper tablet is absolutely wonderful with a full-bodied cornucopia carving. The cornice and the base of the mirror have a concave shape which helped distribute light throughout the room in early American homes that were lit with candles & oil lamps. We especially love the design of the half columns and think the ringlets and crosshatch carved bands work extremely well together.
The mirror retains its original hanging apparatus with two brass hooks and the original paper label on the back. The label reads “Foster Brothers 4 Park Square Boston Factory: 78 Summer St. Arlington Massachusetts”. The Foster brothers were decorated frame makers who created high quality frames from about 1895 to roughly 1940. The company was quite successful and on top of helping furnish the homes of Boston’s elite, they also sold their frames to local Boston artists and can still be found in our local museums like the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Boston Atheneum. You may notice just how bright the gilded surface is. As good as they were at frame making, the Foster Brothers really shined when it came to their gilt surfaces. The Foster Brothers would finish their mirrors & frames with multiple coats of gilding which resulted in a thick & durable superior gold finish that’s impossible to achieve with one or two coats. The gilded surfaces emanate a warm glow because of the triple gilding process. If the reflective quality of the gilded surface is your main consideration when shopping for an antique mirror, we simply can’t recommend this example enough. The mirror measures 18 3/4” wide x 3 1/2” deep at the cornice x 32 1/8” tall. The sight size of the glass is 11 1/4” wide x 19 1/2” tall.
