Dressing stand

1810-1830

Maker

Janvier shop, probably John Janvier Jr. (1777–1850)

Measurements

21 7/8 in x 21 1/2 in x 8 1/4 in

Materials

Mahogany, mirrored glass; cherry (drawer fronts), white pine (all other secondary wood)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation

Accession Number

1975.25

Inscription

“$5.00 [?] / Mr. Philip Fries / To / Mr. Long [?]” on back of looking glass; “J.W.J. and “Red Chalk” on right side of right drawer in red chalk; “Mattie” on left side of right drawer in pencil; “A.BCD” on outside bottom of right drawer in pencil. The address label of Miss Margaret Janvier Hort adheres to the back of the case.

Condition Notes

The brass pulls are replacements.

Provenance

Ex coll. Miss Margaret Janvier Hort. See text for earlier owners

Comments

This bowfront dressing glass or stand has a history of ownership in the extended Janvier family.  According to Margaret Janvier Hort, who sold it to Winterthur in 1975, it once belonged to Mary Fries Janvier Sr. (1818–1911), daughter of Margaret Fries Janvier (1785–1862) and George Washington Janvier (1784–1865), son of furniture-maker John Janvier Sr.  George did not enter the cabinetmaking business.  Philip Fries (1757–1832), whose name is on the looking glass backboard, was a half-brother to Margaret and an uncle to Mary, the one-time owner.

Miss Hort also attributed the dressing stand to John Janvier Jr., a claim that is reinforced by woods used in the stand.  White pine indicates an American (rather than British) origin.  Unusual use of cherry for the veneered drawer fronts also occurs in an 1806 chest of four drawers signed by John Janvier Jr. (acc. no. 1958.3244).

Bibliography

Zimmerman, A Storied Past, 109-110.