TWO REVERSE GLASS PAINTINGS WITH A GOL-O-BOLBOL MOTIF
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Iran, 20th century

Opaque pigments, pencil, polychrome enamels, and white wash on glass, comprising a near pair of large oval glass medallions decorated with an almost identical composition featuring a beloved topos of Persian literature and art, the gol-o-bolbol (rose and nightingale) motif, pairs of birds hiding amidst branches of roses and rosebuds, blue daisies at the bottom of the composition, all painted in the Persian technique known as naqqashi-ye posht-e shishe (نقاشی پشت شیشه), or reverse glass painting, mounted, glazed and framed, each approximately 37.5cm x 25.5cm excluding the frames.