Black silk with cut paper on top., Removed from its frame in 2007., Label on verso: Profiles of Captain Batwell and Major Andre cut by Major Andre for Miss Rebecca Redman Lawrence in the year 1778, and presented by her daughter Miss Eliza Lawrence to her cousin Henry Penington in the year 1841. After the death of Mr. Henry Penington these profiles were returned to me, I now give them to Commander Foxhall A. Parker. Eliza Lawrence, Aug. 22, 1862., Gift of Mrs. John Meredith Read, 1900., LCP Annual Report, 1900: "In concluding this brief review of the year’s gifts, it remains to mention that which Philadelphians will probably considered the most valuable: it is the André Collection, belonging to the late Gen. John Meredith Read, at one time Minister of the United States to Athens, presented by his family to the Library Company. It comprises a large mirror (68 x 29 x 2") which formed part of the decoration of the Wharton House at the time of the Mischianza; profiles cut by Major André for Miss Rebecca Redman, in 1778, of Capt. Lullum Batwell, of the 46th Regiment of Foot, and of himself; a ticket for the Mischianza, May 18th, 1778, with invitation written on the back and signed by Sir Henry Calder; profile of Major Edward Stanley, of the 17th Light Dragoons, afterwards the twelfth Earl of Derby, and the following verses written to a German air by Major André at the request of Miss Redman, January 2d, 1777."
This richly decorated frame has carved and gilded moldings with pendants of leaves, blossoms, and fruit. Lettered around the frame in gilt reads, “Mischianza-1778. / This mirror was in the ballroom of the Wharton House, Philadelphia at the above date & on the occasion of above fête./ General Meredith Read’s André relics.” The Meschianza ended with a ball, which took place in an elaborate canvas tent. The interior of the tent was painted and decorated with mirrors (including this one) and chandeliers, many of them borrowed from neighboring mansions., Gift of Mrs. John Meredith Read, 1900., Exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's exhibition, Art in Revolutionary Philadelphia (2010-2011).
