Beveled Inlaid Mirror
Herter Brothers, New York, C.1870s
Sloan Commission, Number 63
Ebonized wood with bone and various-woods marquetry and parcel gilding. Multiple beveled mirror plates.
The broad ebonized frame is enriched with contrasting woods, parcel gilding, and four corner panels depicting stylized animals amid scrolling foliage. Beveled mirror plates surround the large central glass.
John Sloane (1834-1905)
In 1882, John Sloane paid Herter Brothers #16,075 to decorate his Fifth Avenue mansion. The Brooklyn Museum preserves the library Herter Brothers woodwork, furniture, and other furnishings, as well as paintings, objects, and other decorative elements supplied for that commission at 883 Firth Avenue in New York City.
Mr Sloane was born in Edinburgh and came to New York as an infant. His father, William, founded the business that would become W. & J. Sloane, one of America’s premier carpet and interior-furnishings firms. John entered the family business and eventually became its president.