Decorative reverse-painted glass objects from the fourteenth to twentieth centuries: An overview of the binding media

Abstract

This paper summarizes the binding media analyses of 25 Hinterglasmalereien (reverse-painted glass objects) performed at the Doerner Institut during the last ten years. The studied objects were created in Germany, the Netherlands, Flanders, Switzerland, Sweden, and Italy between the fourteenth and early twentieth centuries. A part of the analyses was performed in the frame of the research project on reverse painting on glass from Flanders, Burgundy and the Lower Rhine of 1330–1550, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Analyses were performed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and amino acid analysis after a step-wise solvent extraction. A broad variety of binding media was identified – mainly drying oils, but also resin-based paints, egg tempera or other aqueous paints based on proteins and gums. The rationale for the choice of specific binders as well as the interdependency with binders of contemporaneous easel paintings is discussed.

Keywords:

• Reverse-painted glass objects
• Amelierung
• Binding medium analysis
• Oil
• Resin
• Gums
• Proteins
• Ageing phenomena

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Heike Stege and Dipl.-Chem. Cornelia Tilenschi (Doerner Institut) for the analyses of several pigment samples and cross-sections. We are very grateful for funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for a large part of the research reported here within the project 2728 Ha/4-1, Die Hinterglasmalerei in Flandern, Burgund und am Niederrhein von 1330 bis 1550. Ursprünge der, ‘kalten Malerei’ auf Glas unter Berücksichtigung der Einflüsse durch die Glas- und Tafelmalerei.