Chinese/Indian reverse painting on glass, Ruler
Gujarati inscription

Frame: 16 1/2" x 22 1/2"
Painting: 13 1/2" x 19 1/4"

Chinese Reverse Glass Paintings in India
(Source: Granoff, Phyllis. Reverse Glass Paintings from Gujarat in a Private Canadian Collection: Documents of British India.; Artibus Asiae, 1978) Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, reverse glass painting produced primarily in the Canton region of China were exported to Europe and North America. The paintings exported by China as well as those executed in Europe are generally are characterized by their bold coloring, hastily executed brush strokes, lack of perspective, anonymity of authorship, and a reduction of a scene to only its primary details. One advantage of making paintings on glass was that a wood backing could be used to protect the paint so artists could sell the pieces without waiting for the paint to dry. This led to faster turnaround and greater profits for Chinese artists. By the late 18th and early 19th century, Indians began noticing the increasing demand for portraits done by artists in Canton for the British aristocracy. Indian nobles then started having their engraved portraits sent to China in order to receive their own painted portraits transposed onto glass.

As the British extended their empire to India, the reverse glass paintings produced in China found a new market in wealthy Indians who sought to emulate British colonial officers. It is impossible to know if these paintings were produced for local Indian rulers or for the British--both in India and at home.

In the 1970s, a collection of eight of these reverse glass paintings surfaced from a private Canadian collection. The subjects of the paintings included Hindu deities, and local rulers.

This piece also has an inscription in Gujarati. Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people.

Good condition overall; some minor wear to frame and paint