Reverse glass painted mirror
Zurich, Hans Jakob Sprüngli (1559 - 1637).
Reverse glass painting in eglomisé technique with gold and silver leaf, opaque and transparent pigments and gold powder. Cracks in the uppermost pane of glass. Ebony veneered ripple moulded frame with (replaced) gilt bronze bail, H 32.2, W 23.5 cm.
The reverse glass painter and enamellist Hans Jakob Sprüngli (1559 – 1637) was one of the most important eglomisé artists of his era. His workshop not only supplied patrons in Switzerland, but also delivered orders as far afield as Naples, Prague, and Nuremberg. His life and oeuvre have been extensively documented. He wrote a treatise on reverse glass painting and eglomisé techniques that was published for the first time in 1689.
These kinds of mirror frames with glass inlays painted on reverse to resemble pietra dura were his speciality. Imitations of semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli and tiger's eye fit perfectly to the Mannerist fashion of around 1600 with its penchant for curiosities, trompe l'oeil effects, playful elements, and fantasy. Sprüngli frames such as this one can be found in numerous museums and private collections throughout the world.
Provenance
Art market, Regensburg.
Literature
Illus. in Steiner, Goldglanz und Silberpracht – Hinterglasmalerei aus vier Jahrhunderten, Berlin-Munich 2015, no. 8.
Cf. Gonzales-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto. Le arti decorative in Italia fra classicismi e barocco. Roma e il Regno delle Due Sicilie, Milan 1984, p. 254, illus. 444.
Cf. Ryser, Verzauberte Bilder. Die Kunst der Malerei hinter Glas, Munich 1991, illus. 148.
Cf. Lanmon, Glass in the Robert Lehman Collection. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1993, S 280 ff., illus. 112 ff.
Cf. cat. Glanzlichter. Kunst der Hinterglasmalerei, Romont-Bern 2000, cat. no. 42, for an identical octagonal frame in the collection of R.u. F. Ryser.
Exhibitions
2015 Schaezlerpalais der Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg.