Americana & Folk Art

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I am really pleased to offer this outstanding reverse painted on glass silhouette with some of the most exquisite detail I've seen.  Reverse painting means that the artist must start with the tiniest detail, painted first on the glass and then layer the paints backward until she finishes with the broadest color.  So, as you look at the detailed photos below, think about starting this painting with the beautiful gold jewelry and working backwards from there.  The textured details of the lace, ribbons and some of the dress folds were scratched into the black paint, but the blue ribbons for the bonnet had to be painted before the black from which her bonnet was scratched.  Imagine the difficulty in working out the placement for these wonderful details without having the whole piece to work from!  The woman is beautiful and her outstretched hand topped by her multi-tiered sleeve is a work of art all of its own.  The artist backed the entire piece with a pale pink wax which provides a solid background as well as helping to protect the delicate paint.  At sometime during its life, the entire back of the glass has been taped with black tape which further helped to protect it.  As you can see, there are some minor paint loss and some wax loss at the upper left edge.  As is always the case with period reverse paintings, there is some mottling of the black paint where it would have liked to lift from the glass....but was luckily prevented by the wax backing.  The close up photos below show the exquisite detail of her gold jewelry, including a double stranded necklace which holds a pendant, a long gold chain which holds a miniature portrait or silhouette tucked into her belt, a gold belt buckle and a bracelet with a tiny bit of gold at the center.  This beautiful circa 1830 silhouette resides in the probably original rosewood veneered frame which has a scooped cove that leads outwardly to a flat ledge.  Framed size is 10 1/2" x 12".

(#4636)    Sale Pending

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