Antique Victorian crystoleum hand painted oil on glass in ornate guilded frame this truly stunning piece of art shows a young woman probably Italian from Venice leaning over a balcony it is in a stunning ornate original frame the quality can not been shown truly with pictures please be aware you are purchasing an item that has been hand painted using oil on a piece of glass over a 100 years ago some age related marks/ wear etc only adds to the beauty 34 cm tall 23 cm wide 3 cm depth there could be a name possibly date if item was removed from frame ?
The crystoleum, from "crystal" + "oleum" (oil), process was a method of applying colour to an albumen print, popular from c. 1880 – c. 1910.[1]
Front
Back
1893 Crystoleum print, showing the front and back.
An albumen print was pasted face down to the inside of a concave piece of glass. Once the adhesive (usually starch paste or gelatin) was dry, the paper backing of the print was rubbed away, leaving only the transparent emulsion on the glass. The image was then coloured by hand, using oil paints. Another piece of glass was added to the back and this could also be coloured by hand. Both pieces of glass were bound together creating a detailed, albeit fragile, image. The process was derived from the 18th century mezzotint process.
Antique Victorian crystoleum hand painted oil on glass in ornate guilded frame
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