Restoration Complete on Historical Society Mirror

The Milton Historical Society and Milton Public Library welcome the public to a reception on September 14 at 7 p.m. for the re-hanging of the society's large gilt mirror, which once belonged to Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson. The mirror hung in the library prior to last year's construction and is being returned after a restoration.

The Hutchinson Mirror, which is 74 inches by 44 inches, will be returned to the Reading Room, the site of the reception after being repaired and conserved by Harvard Art.

The mirror was owned by Hutchinson, who whose home "Unquety" was on Adams Street on Milton Hill. He lived from 1711 to 1780.

The Historical Society has been in possession of the mirror since Mary Rivers, a descendant of Barney Smith who purchased the Hutchinson estate in the early nineteenth century, donated it in 1918.

The mirror hung in the library for many years, before the construction project last year. At that time, the society contacted Susan Jackson of Harvard Art, an art restoration company in Harvard, who confirmed that the mirror was American-made and that it predated the American Revolution. Jackson oversaw the refurbishing.

When it came time to conserve the mirror, the board of the Historical Society voted to complete the project in memory of Jeannette Lithgow Peverly, who passed away in 2009. Peverly was "a stalwart member of the historical society and a long time member of many Milton organizations, including the Milton Women's Club, the Forbes House Museum, the First Parish Church in Milton, Fuller Village and the Milton Public Library," according to a press release from the society.