A REVERSE GLASS PAINTING WITH A GOL-O-BOLBOL MOTIF
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Qajar Iran, late 19th - early 20th century

Opaque pigments, pencil, polychrome enamels, and white wash on glass, the drop-shaped glass medallion decorated with a mirrored composition featuring a beloved topos of Persian literature and art, the gol-o-bolbol (rose and nightingale) motif, the nightingales hiding amidst branches of roses and rosebuds, irises 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, 76cm x 48cm including the frames.