Very Rare Chippendale Figured Mahogany Dressing Glass, Wayne & Biddle, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Circa 1780

Pook & Pook Inc., Downingtown, Pennsylvania, January 6, 2006, lot 384.

Caleb Perry Wayne (1776-1849) and Charles Biddle, Jr. (1787-1836) were successors to their father-in-law, James Stokes, and ran the store he established at the corner of Front and High Streets from 1811 until 1822, when their partnership dissolved. The partners seem to have been retailers rather than makers of the many articles they advertised. The makers of their looking-glass frames are not known, but the presence of white pine as a secondary wood in this example points to American workmanship.