Reverse Painted Convex Glass Silhouettes at Antiques Plus in D'Iberville,MS

A fascinating area of collecting is the many times over looked area of Reverse Painted Convex Glass Silhouettes.

From 1920s to the 1950s every 5¢ and 10¢ store in America carried these inexpensive little pictures that usually comprised a piece of convex class with a black Silhouette painted on the reverse and backed with a brightly colored paper background print. Mostly of a small size though not always so, they came in a myrid number of designes.

The origin of these pieces is taken from the even earlier art of the paper silhouette.  An art form where a figure such as a human profile was portrayed by cutting out the silhouette with black paper and then pasting it to a white ground and framing under glass.
Most were in what many used to refer to as the story book style, Fairytale, or Wizard of Oz style. A style that was a highly popular one during the late 1910-30's period, but carried over until the late 1950's early 1960's.

The images were every conceivable fantasy and contrivance that one can imagine. Every thing from happy cowboys and Indians silhouettes to 18th century lovers.  The lovers theme being one of the most common.
Many times they were sold as pairs having a carryover background and male female silhouettes playing off of each other.




I was fourtunate to pick up a good sized collection from a local collector a while back and have them currantly available at Antiques Plus. Above I have an image of some of them. Below I have a few close ups to illustrate some of the many different vingettes that are available. If one wishes to view them in person, just stop on by and have a look, but one might want to hurry.  As of the time of this post I have already sold a couple of the ones that I have pictured here. These nostalgic pieces always go quickly.

These Silhouettes on Glass have become popular enough for a price guid to have been published in 2000.
Vintage Silhouettes on Glass & Reverse Paintings by: Shirley Mace
ISBN: 0963367463
and it is available on the internet

Fun at Antiques Plus in D'Iberville

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

There are a lot of wild creatures found in antique shops, I can tell you.  Croching tigers and leering squirrels, for example.  Artistic representations of animals of all types abound in their natural habitat of antique shops.  Some collectors focus in on only one type of animal like elephants others only collect statues and others collect oil paintings. 

You are only limited by your interest and pocket book.  A small porcelain figure might only cost a few dollars or a Faberge animal made of precious stone might cost a quarter million dollars.  Animals can lurk as embellishments on shelf brackets or hidden in the foilage of a carved piece of furniture. 

Here at Antiques Plus in D'Iberville you can find wildlife too.  I have posted a few photos of animals found here in the shop.  Come on in and see if you can spot some wildlife also.  We are open six days a week Monday through Saturday from 10 to 5 in the D'Iberville / Biloxi area on the beautiful Gulf Coast of Mississippi.  Come on down and see us.

You won't need a huting license to browse.