Name/Title
Cheval MirrorEntry/Object ID
1970.116.1Description
Architectural Empire-style cheval mirror made of mahogany (primary wood) and walnut (secondary). The mirror has a crown-peaked crest and an ogee bracket. The rectangular easel frame rests on a platform base with a concave face and trestle-style base with shaped brackets. The mirror rests in the ogee bracket frame. It has one adjustable brass candle arm on the object's right side.Use
First made in the late eighteenth century, cheval mirrors feature a tiltable design that allows the full-length mirror—fitted in a decorative frame—to be adjusted to various angles. However, with the advent of wardrobes with mirrored doors, cheval mirrors eventually became obsolete.Context
In 1844, widow Keziah Goodwyn Hopkins Brevard (1803–1886) inherited two plantations in Richland County from her father, James Hopkins (1774–1884). While she managed both sites—Oldfield Plantation and the newly named Brevard Place—she resided at the latter. By the early 1860s, Keziah enslaved over 209 individuals. Around that same time, Keziah kept a diary, later published as “A Plantation Mistress on the Eve of the Civil War,” which reflected her views on slavery as a necessary evil. Aside from those she enslaved, Keziah managed and lived at Brevard Place alone, aside from a brief period when her half-sister, Sarah Hall (1791–1867)—also a childless widow—lived with her following her release from the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum.
After Keziah’s death in 1868, Brevard Place passed to the daughters of her half-nephew, Governor James Hopkins Adams (1812–1861). In 1903, Caroline Hopkins Adams LeConte (1850–1935) purchased the property at auction. Family lore suggests she renamed it "Alwehav," referencing that it took "all we have" to acquire the property. While the structures no longer stand, the property remains in the hands of descendants and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. According to the donor, a descendant and previous owner of Alwehav, this mirror was salvaged from the site.Dimensions
Height
80-1/2 inWidth
41-1/2 inDepth
23-3/4 inMaterial
Wood, Glass, MetalRelationships
Related Places
Place
Location
Alwehav PlantationState/Province
South Carolina
