Hyde Hall

Giltwood Style Mirrors

The largest of three mirrors is shown hanging above a mahogany pier table in the drawing room.

When it came time to furnish the main entertaining spaces of Hyde Hall in the 1830s, George Clarke selected strong, masculine, classical furniture. For the drawing room in 1833 he ordered three giltwood looking glasses from Isaac L. Platt (1793 – 1875), a New York picture-frame maker. The glass of two of the mirrors measures 66 inches long by 60 inches wide; a third, the largest, is 76 inches long by 36 inches wide. All are framed with 4-1/2-inch fluted moldings fastened with bold corner blocks. Total cost for glass and frames, not including shipping and handling was $591, which would buy you about $15,700 worth of goods in today’s money.

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