19TH CENTURY

Although glass was widely used in ancient China, the technique of producing flat glass in China was not accomplished until the 19th Century. Even in the imperial glass workshops, set up Peking (Beijing) in 1696 under the supervision of the Jesuit Kilian Stumpf, window glass or mirrored glass was not successfully produced. As a result, from the middle of the 18th century onwards, when reverse glass painting was already popular in Europe, sheets of both clear and mirrored glass were sent to Canton from Europe. Chinese artists, who were already expert in painting and calligraphy, took up the practice of painting in oil on glass, tracing the outlines of their designs on the back of the mirror plate and, using a special steel implement, scraped away the mirror backing to reveal the glass that could then be painted. The glass paintings were purely made for export, and initially depicted bucolic landscapes, frequently with Chinese figures at various leisurely pursuits. The demand for such paintings was fuelled by the mania in Europe for all things Chinese, and they were commonly placed in elaborate Chippendale or chinoiserie frames.

The technique of reverse-glass painting in China, or `back-painting’ as it was referred to in the eighteenth century, was probably introduced by Jesuit missionaries from Europe, and it has often been suggested that it was one of the accomplishments of Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), court painter to the emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. Although the centre for reverse glass paintings was in Canton, Amiot writes in Mémoires concernant l’histoire, les sciences, les arts …. Des Chinois, Paris, 1786, vol. II, as quoted by Margaret Jourdain and R. Soame Jenyns, Chinese Export Art in the Eighteenth Century, Feltham, 1967, pp. 34 and 35, that Father Castiglione and Father Attiret were commissioned by the Emperor Qianlong to paint some large mirrors.