Pair of Vintage , Circa 1940's, Silhouette Reliance Framed Pictures , Titled Colonial Women in Paris. The Reliance Co. was famous for this type of picture. Along with a number of other companies, it specialized in making inexpensive glass pictures that were used for both decorative and advertising purposes. They were made by putting a print on the back of a piece of glass and then making a background using the Butterfly Technique (in the case of Reliance)and by using a hand-painting technique. Many (if not most times) of these pictures featured a person or a couple in silhouette. There's a growing number of people who are interested in these mid-20th century silhouettes. ,,,,,,,,,,,THE BUTTERFLY TECHIQUE ..Using butterfly wings to decorate jewelry or embellish some other object leaves some people a little bit queasy. Tearing the wings off these beautiful creatures is a bit distasteful to many of us, but it was widely done in the 1920s, '30s, '40s and '50s and it is still being done to some extent today. The butterfly that was (and is) most used is the Blue Morpho butterfly that was captured in great numbers in the jungles and rain forests of Central and South America. Also, they were raised on farms, and it is reported that in the 1950s people who were doing crafts that incorporated the Morpho's wings paid about $5 for each wing. At a time when steak was a dollar a pound or less, that was a relatively large amount of money. The wings of the Morpho butterfly are an iridescent peacock blue, and the wings were used habitually to create backgrounds and accent details on all sorts of objects sold to tourists who visited such tropical climes as Brazil. These wings might be used to form the sky in pictures that feature a depiction of a palm tree-fringed beach, or they might be used to make the dress of a woman seen in profile walking in a beautiful garden. RPF (Reliance) Co. Chi & NY Gilded. 1 signed Smith Frederick. ***Total Weight:1# 8 oz.*** Measurements: 7.75 x 11.5 x .75

Excellent condition - minor wear