A distressed pier mirror circa 1780. All the joints were loose and gold leaf rubbed to painted layer. The ‘painting' and the mirror were otherwise in goodish order.
After making good the mirror’s frame it was time to restore the gold leaf – a new experience for me, fortunately the mirror was on the small side, just 30 cm wide.
Quite pleased with the result and an old tatty mirror was saved ... until the glass protecting the ‘painting’ was broken. And it wasn't a painting. It was a reverse painted print.
About: Reverse glass printing is a process whereby a print is transferred to a sheet of glass, varnished and coloured to resemble an oil painting:
The print is first wetted out
A piece of broad sheet glass is coated with varnish
The dampened print is then laid face down onto the glass and allowed to dry.
The main bulk of the paper substrate is then removed from the verso of the print by rolling with the fingers, leaving a thin layer of paper and the inked image on the glass
The verso is then varnished using resins of natural origin, such as Venetian turpentine, to give the print a brilliant transparent effect. Finally, the verso of the glass print is coloured with paint media, most commonly oil.
Reverse glass print manufacture came into fashion in England at the beginning of the 18th century. Mezzotints have a rich tonality, giving a dynamic, ‘painterly’ appearance to the printed artwork. However, during the 17th century, the monochrome mezzotints were becoming monotonous, resulting in an increasing call for colour. This increasing demand for coloured artwork led to the novel production, by professional printmakers and amateurs alike, of the reverse glass print.
This ‘progression’ soon went out of fashion when colour printing was introduced in the mid-19th century.
Further reading on reverse print painting can be found here.
