Object of the Month

Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site has a large museum collection consisting of thousands of objects, many of which are not regularly displayed in the house's furnished exhibit rooms. Every month, an object will be featured on this page, providing a look at an unusual piece from the collection.

 

Girandole mirrors, like this one acquired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, were popular features of wealthy homes in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century United States.

NPS / Daly

This month’s object is one that provides a tangible link between the Longfellows and an earlier family who occupied the house, the Craigies. It is a Federal period girandole mirror. A girandole is defined as an ornamental branched candle holder, consisting of several lights either on a stand, mounted on the wall, or as in this case, attached to a mirror. The term derives from French and Italian terms for a type of rotating firework.

This mirror dates from the early nineteenth century and is believed to have belonged to Andrew and Elizabeth Craigie. Andrew Craigie (died 1819) purchased the Brattle Street house in the early 1790s and turned it into a showpiece property with lavish architectural touches and furnishings, such as this mirror. A note from a 1954 inventory of the house indicates that the mirror was purchased by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, reading “Tradition has it that this mirror was purchased by Mrs. Craigie before 1800. After her death, Mr. Longfellow purchased it at the auction held of her effects.” If the “tradition” is true, the mirror is one of several pieces of furniture Henry W. Longfellow acquired after her death in 1841, after he had been one of her boarders for some four years.

Girandole mirrors were popular features of wealthy homes in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century U.S. Part of their appeal was their ability to help illuminate an entire room, a characteristic imparted by the use of a convex mirror to reflect the light of candles held at the end of projecting arms flanking the mirror itself. This mirror was likely manufactured in England. The complexities of manufacturing convex glass mirrors was still generally beyond what American makers were capable of at the time. Although the maker of this example is unknown, it bears similarities to mirrors made by J. & W. Freeman of Norwich, England, who exported mirrors to New York and were active from at least 1810 to 1820.

As with this example, many girandole mirrors of the period include an eagle finial, an especially popular feature with post-Revolution Americans when the eagle, a symbol of strength and independence, was included as part of the design for the Great Seal of the United States in 1782. Even the eagle’s facing could be symbolic, with an eagle facing its own right side embodying peace, and a left-facing eagle like this one representing vigilance or aggression. A series of giltwood balls attached to chains hang from the eagle’s beak. Other decorative elements include a pair of stylized dolphins flanking the eagle, and acanthus leaf carvings at the mirror’s bottom.

As revealed in historic photographs, the mirror was placed in Henry Longfellow’s study by the 1870s. It has remained there, above the fireplace, to the present day.

 

View past Objects of the Month.