A pair of reverse-glass paintings
Nikolaus Michael Spengler (1700–1776), signed
Darmstadt, dated 1762
Modelled on: etching La Boudinière by Jacques Philippe Lebas, Paris, ca 1760
Both signed ‘Nicol. Michael Spengler. pinx. 1762’
Reverse painting, original frames
Dimensions without frames 47 x 75 cm
Provenance: St. Gallen, Hansueli Fröhlich Collection, 1982
These two signed companion-piece pictures painted in the reverse glass technique by Nikolaus Michael Spengler, a celebrated exponent of that medium, are not only distinguished by outstanding painterly quality but also by their unusual width: 75 cm. Above and beyond the particularly good state of preservation of these paintings it is also remarkable that they have survived in their original frames. The genre scenes represented here are two rustic kitchen interiors, in which vegetables are being prepared on one side and meat on the other. The artist proudly put his full signature on both paintings: ‘Nicol. Michael Spengler. pinx. 1762’. Nikolaus Michael Spengler came from a family of glass painters in Konstanz on Lake Constance, where reverse-glass painting had been practised since the Renaissance. Little is known about his education and his early work. In 1728 he entered the employ of Ernst Ludwig, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. After the Landgrave’s death in 1738, Nikolaus Michael Spengler worked as glass painter to the court of Ludwig VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. An entry from the court treasury register [Hofkassenregister] indicates how highly he was esteemed at the Darmstadt court: on 18 August 1746 ‘Spengler, glass painter to the princely court, [was] graciously honoured for four pictures of stags in view of the particular industriousness shown for every 10 guilders, therefore a total of 40 guilders, apart from his regular pay’ [‘dem fürstlichen Hof Glasmahler Spengler vor verfertigte vier Pieces von Hirschen in Betracht des an solche erwiesenen besonderen Fleißes, vor jeden 10 Gulden mithin zusammen 40 Gulden, außer dessen laufender Besoldung in Gnaden verehret’.