ATTRIBUTED TO SAMUEL MCINTIRE (1757-1811), SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1801

Differing only in its narrower width, a virtually identical overmantel mirror was made for the Peirce-Nichols house (80 Federal Street, Salem) and is now in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum (illustrated in Wallace Nutting, Furniture Treasury, vol. II (New York, 1928), no. 3094). Built in 1782 and extensively remodeled in 1801, the house and its interiors were designed and in part executed by Samuel McIntire (1757-1811), Salem's renowned architect and craftsman. The Peirce-Nichols mirror is believed to have been part of the 1801 decorative scheme. With their white-painted and gilded surfaces, swags and musical trophies, both reflect the influence of Robert Adam. As shown in early photographs, the Peirce-Nichols mirror hung in the elegant East Parlor (Frank Cousins and Phil M. Riley, The Wood-Carver of Salem: Samuel McIntire His Life and Work (Boston, 1916), pls. CIII, CIV, opp. pp. 127, 128).