Featured Reverse painting on glass my Fop-aux!

I did a big fop-aux while cleaning a vintage "Verre eglomise" which is a cold painting process with gold gilt reverse painted, sealed with a steamed varnish. The process was perfected by French decorator Jean Baptist Glomy (1711-1786) who sold his simple framed prints under glass with this technique across Europe through art distributors.

I want to caution others to be warry of working with frames which have nails that went into the frame crooked or look off-center... they most likely did not fit or were replaced with a wrong size during the artworks life. Now I am left with the vintage print without its artist reverse painted design on the frame's glass.

Being an artist I could get new glass cut and do the design but do not know how to do the steam varnish, plus the art then becomes a married (new/vintage) piece of artwork. Thankfully it was not an expensive piece and was made for the common household to enjoy nature designs such as this print. I estimate this one was done in his style because it does have the steamed varnish process that can be seen on the reverse side. I have seen similar prints of this European Goldfinch on a thistle that was popular in the early 1930s. The photo was taken before I tried putting the frame back together but shows the gold gilt and black cage lines of the inside glass. First time I have ever broken the glass of a frame and it would be part of the art.

The frame broke when I pulled a crooked nail from the frame and gently tapped it down in place... cracking the corner of the glass! Next time, I will either use a framer or make sure to replace the nail in a new hole maybe?

 

So sad this happened to you Slykitty, I feel the pain when one inadvertently breaks something that they are trying to repair, Joy.

 

I am sorry that happened, and thank you for the warning.

 

I have been where you are -- no matter the cost, finding a treasure that was created before I was born and then killing it is always a tough lesson.

 

sorry that happened, but thanks for the enlightening discussion

 

Doing a modern interpretation of "verre eglomise" is fairly simple if the design isn't too complex - I use tape and matt-black primer to create the design (border) then using a sharp blade, cut away the tape, exposing the sections to be gilded.

Then I plop down some gold leaf, adhering it to the glass with saliva (I know!) and seal the gold in with some more black paint over the back.

Even though the black is a "flat" finish, it doesn't matter as it takes on the shiny surface of the glass. I use black lacquer primer because it sets up in seconds, rather than hours. Looks just like the antique frames when it's finished.