Europe, Victorian Era, ca. 1875. A gorgeous stained glass panel with 10 remarkable lithophanes - compositions that are etched or molded in an extremely thin porcelain that is translucent so that they become visible when back lit - presented in a pyramidal arrangement. Each lithophane presents a different figural genre scene. These include a woman knitting beside an infant in a cradle; a woman blowing a whistle or horn at a doorway while her pet dog sits on the stoop; a women encountering a deer in the woods; and several scenes featuring children playing with one another or their pets - the most curious featuring two children, one protesting as the other has taken away her doll and is threatening her with a (hopefully toy) sword. These 10 porcelain lithophanes are set within symmetrically placed stained glass surrounds of green hues that culminate in an arched upper section of green, gold, and violet glass panels bordered by tendril flourishes comprised of petal pink glass with marbled sky blue glass backgrounds. In addition, three roundels of faceted, convex, ruby red stained glass further embellish this upper region. Finally, the entire piece is framed with panels of marbled royal blue hues. Size: 31" L x 23" W (78.7 cm x 58.4 cm)

A lithophane presents an image that is 3-dimensional, and its characteristics change with the degree of natural or artificial light shining through it. The term is of Greek origin meaning "light in stone" or to "appear in stone." The Blair Museum of Lithophanes has collected the greatest number of lithophanes in the world. Their website offers the following description of the process to create a lithophane, "Popular in Europe in the mid-19th Century, lithophanes began their life as a thin sheet of beeswax. Artisans carved the pictures in the wax, a plaster-of-Paris mold was made from the wax carving and the porcelain slip was poured in this mold to dry. Removed from the mold, the porcelain was then fired. Where the picture is the lightest, the porcelain is very thin, and where it is darkest, the porcelain is very thick."

Provenance: private Lumberton, Texas, USA collection, aquired before 2010

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#170365

Minor stains here to a few lithophanes and slight surface wear to metal surrounds. Otherwise intact and excellent.