A Scarce 18thC Reverse Glass Print Portrait of a Lady c.1770

Object Description

The very pretty reverse glass painted printed portrait of a lady of the period, shown half-length seated, the whole in its original period gilt frame and surviving from the third quarter of the eighteenth century.

Object History

Unknown.

Object Literature

Traditionally, reverse glass painting consists of several layers of paint applied to one side of the glass while the painting is viewed from the other side. In creating such a painting, the sequence of paint application is reversed. The foreground and highlights are painted first and must be correct, then the layers are built up, with the background applied last. With these paintings, the glass can be said to have several functions: a painting substrate, a protective layer of plain glass and a coating which performs an aesthetic function by making the colours more saturated. It is a technique that has been used for portrait and landscape paintings which were then framed, for advertisements often on mirrors such as this, and for decorating the inside of bottles.

Faded grandeur at its best.

Object Condition

The portrait does show its age with some hairline cracks as photographed. There are some small losses to the frame. The original pine boarded back shows a depository label for Hampton & Sons Ltd.

Object Details